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SHORT ACCOUNT 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, 



INFORMATION OF EMIGRANTS, &c. 



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SHORT ACCOUNT 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, 

DESIGNED CHIEFLY 

FOR THE INFORMATION OF AGRICULTURIST 

AND OTHER EMIGRANTS OF SMALL 

CAPITAL, 



BY 



THE AUTHOR OF THE EMIGRANT'S INTRODUCTION TO AN ACQUAINTANCE 
WITH THE BRITISH AMERICAN COLONIES, &C. 



Great Nature spoke, observant man obey'd, 
Cities were built, societies were made. — Pope. 




MADDEN & Co. (Late PARBURY & Co.) 8, LEADENHALL 
STREET. 



1839. 



E. Varty, Printer, 27, Camomile Street, Bishopsgate. 



(i 



PREFACE. 



It has long been a matter of surprise to the 
greater part of those travellers who have visited 
the British provinces in America, that the Island 
of which I have undertaken to convey some des- 
cription, should hitherto, in proportion to its rela- 
tive importance with other parts of our colonial 
possessions, have been so little known in Great 
Britain. There has, however, been no want of 
publications containing valuable statements con- 
cerning its importance, whether in a commercial 
point of view, or in relation to the settlement of 
Emigrants from the United Kingdom. But the 
a2 



11 PREFACE 

better, and more full accounts, are to be obtained, 
only when accompanied by voluminous details re- 
specting the sister provinces, or from books now 
rarely to be met with. 

Nothing has been published concerning this 
Island, for the express use of Emigrants ; nothing, 
in the execution of which, the mind of the writer 
has been steadily intent upon the interests of that 
class of persons best calculated to form a portion of 
its population : and it is to supply this deficiency, 
that I have undertaken to impart such information 
as seems to me best adapted to be useful to Emi- 
grants in search of intelligence concerning the 
capabilities of the country and the facilities for 
settlement which it affords. I have ventured to 
state only such opinions respecting the prospects 
of the settlers, as a long residence in the colony 
has enabled me with confidence to offer. 

In a former publication,* in which, it was a part 
of the design to draw a comparative view of the 

* " The Emigrant's Introduction, &c." 



PREFACE. Ill 

condition of the several American colonies, in re- 
lation to the disposition, capital, and views of in- 
tending emigrants, I took occasion to point out 
Prince Edward Island, as one of those portions of 
these extensive countries more especially favored 
by situation and soil, and well adapted for the 
settlement of enterprising agriculturists. In the 
present instance, I am able to be more precise in 
the notice of such matters as may probably be of 
the first interest with the inquirer. 

It may be necessary to inform or remind the 
reader, that the advantages this Island possesses 
over the Canadas as a place of settlement, are, 
chiefly, the greater salubrity of its atmosphere, and 
the facilities for commerce which it enjoys. It is 
more healthy than the greater part of Upper Canada, 
though not so mild in the winter season as the 
more favored portions of that province ; and it is 
not exposed to such great extremes of heat and 
cold as the lower province. It possesses, too, a 
more peaceable ,and loyal population than Lower 



IV PREFACE. 

Canada, where the French Canadians predominate ; 
and it has advantages over every part of our conti- 
nental possessions in America, in being further re- 
moved from the chances of the depreciation of 
property, arising from the unsettled state of public 
affairs in Lower Canada. 

With respect to Emigration, in so far as it may 
concern the reader, in relation to his condition, 
and as a matter of choice or necessity, I have in 
this instance made no further allusion to its good 
or evil consequences, than will be found in a few 
incidental remarks. The question could not be 
here fairly examined ; but it was necessary to notice 
the change of condition which most Emigrants will 
certainly experience, in a greater or less degree, 
depending, as regards those of the poorer classes, 
upon health and physical strength, and upon union 
and moral energy with those less dependent upon 
manual labor for their success. But should any 
reader of this Sketch, receive his first impressions 
concerning the nature of Emigration, from the casual 



PREFACE. V 

observations he may here meet with, and desire to 
find the subject more fully discussed, he may en- 
counter a variety of arguments both for and against 
removal, according to the inquirer's condition and 
prospects here, and his adaptation to any one of the 
American colonies, in the Treatise to which refer- 
ence has already been made. 

From the indulgent reception with which that 
publication was favored by the periodical reviewers, 
to whom the author's acknowledgements are due ; 
and from the consequent extensive circulation 
which it has obtained within those districts of the 
United Kingdom where emigration is more general, 
it may reasonably be believed, that there will be 
readers of this present sketch, who have been con- 
firmed in their determination to emigrate, from the 
observations contained in the former treatise ; and 
having chosen Prince Edward Island for the place 
of their destination, desire a more full account of 
that country. Should this in any instance be the 
case, I trust I may venture to hope, that the further 



VI PREFACE. 

information respecting this fine colony now before 
the reader, will at least, be sufficient to satisfy the 
inquiries of Emigrants of that class whose prospects 
are here more fully examined. 

But should there be any indifferent reader, I 
am not without hope, also, that this description of 
a portion of the colonial empire of Great Britain, 
which, amid other pursuits may have almost escaped 
his notice, will put him in possession of information 
that may in some way or other be made subservient 
to charitable purposes. 



CHAPTER I. 



SITUATION — APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY — DIVISION 

— QUI.EN's COUNTY — HILLSBOROUGH HARBOUR 

CHARLOTTE TOWN VICINITY — RUSTICO — TRACADIE. 

Prince Edward Island is one of those important 
Colonies which fell into the hands of the English upon 
the conquest of Canada, and were finally ceded to Great 
Brit- in by the treaty of Paris in 1763. It is situated 
on the South side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and is 
separated from the continental provinces of Xova Scotia 
and New Brunswick, by a strait of from nine to thirty 
miles in breadth. It lies between the latitudes of 45 
and 4/ degrees North, and is about 130 miles in length, 
but varies from ten to thirty in breadth. 

The appearance of the country from the water is 
extremely inviting. With the exception of some ridges 
of sand wastes, which front the bays on the North side, 
and form several fine harbours, the Island is entirely 
surrounded with red cliffs, varying from thirty to one 
hundred feet in height. 

B 



X APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 

Their are no mountains in the Island ; but the 
country in the interior, is, in most parts, higher than 
upon the coast ; and the scenery, as you approach the 
shore, presents all the varieties of cultivated and forest 
land, with the most luxuriant foliage to the very brink 
of the cliffs, or to the water's edge upon the rivers and 
bays. 

The sand wastes which stretch across the bays upon 
the North side, show no signs of vegetation when 
viewed from the sea, and produce nothing but coarse 
grass and wild peas. They, however, commonly rise 
into hillocks of from twenty to eighty or ninety feet in 
height, and add greatly to the effect of the scenery, 
whether seen from the land or the sea. 

The Coast of the Island is on every side indented 
with fine harbours, and the interior is intersected with 
rivers which meander through the richest natural 
forest in every district; while springs, and streams 
of the purest water, every where abound. 

The Island is divided into three counties, which are 
called King's County, Queen's County, and Prince 
County ; and subdivided into townships, sixty-seven in 
all. As the capital is situated in Queen's County, I 
shall proceed first, to particularize the localities of 
that division, with the advantage which it affords to the 
classes of emigrants for whose use these remarks are 
more especially intended. 

Near the centre of this county and of the Island, is 
situated Hillsborough Bay, which is capacious, and safe 
for ships of any burden. At the head of this bay lies 



CHARLOTTE TOWN. 6 

an inner harbour, which is a well sheltered basin of 
about three miles in breadth, formed by the junction 
of the Hillsborough, York, and Elliot Rivers, which 
empty their waters by the same channel of about half 
a mile in breadth, into the outer harbour. At the con- 
fluence of the rivers Hillsborough and York, upon a 
point of gradually rising ground, skirted by red cliffs 
from about twenty to thirty or forty feet in height, 
is situated Charlotte Town. 

Charlotte Town is the seat of the Government, and 
contains about three thousand inhabitants. It is ad- 
mirably planned, and laid out in streets running at 
right angles, with several squares, but is only yet par- 
tially built. It is divided into hundreds, and subdi- 
vided into half-acre lots, to each of which is attached 
a pasture lot of twelve acres. The public buildings 
consist of, a court-house, which is used also by the 
two branches of the legislature, of a college for the 
education of youth, and a gaol. There is also an Epis- 
copalian Church, a Scotch Church, and a Methodist 
and a Catholic Chapel. The houses are generally built 
of wood, and painted straw colour or white ; but 
several brick houses have lately been erected, which 
give a more substantial and English air to the town, 
and contribute to its security from fire. 

Many of the houses have gardens ; and as there is a 
total absence of the mean and dirty habitations which 
not unfrequently skirt the whole water boundary of 
European towns situated upon rivers, the view of the 
capital is extremely agreeable; neither is our impres- 
b2 



4 VICINITY OF CHARLOTTE TOWN. 

sion effaced, when we come to walk through its broad 
and cheerful streets. We are not shocked by the 
evidences of indigence, nor offended by the ostenta- 
tious display of luxury and vanity. But of those features 
which characterize the social intercourse of the inhabi- 
tants, it will be necessary to offer a remark or two in 
a subsequent page. 

The vicinity of the capital, is rarely exceeded in the 
richness and varied beauty of its scenery. Upon a 
beautiful site on the west side, and within a mile of the 
town, stands the new government house ; and on the 
opposite banks in every direction around the basin, the 
eye rests upon gently rising grounds, covered to the 
very brink of the cliffs with the most luxuriant natural 
forest, interrupted only by the occasional intervention 
of cultivated plots, with the certain indications of pros- 
perity and plenty. 

Around the town the country is well cleared for 
several miles. The principal roads are the St. Peter's, 
and the Malpec or Prince Town Road. The St. 
Peter's road is settled on both sides, to the distance of 
twelve or fourteen miles ; and stretching towards the 
East point of the Island, it connects the most distant 
settlements of King's County with the capital. The 
Prince Town Road is settled also for nine or ten miles ; 
and running to the westward, leads to the most remote 
settlements of Prince County. The next in impor- 
tance is the George Town Road. It commences 
opposite the capital, and leads to George Town and 
all the settlements in that direction. Besides these, 



PRINCIPAL RIVERS. 5 

there are new branch roads yearly opening in all 
these directions, as the settlements increase in number 
and importance. 

Upon the Malpec or Prince Town Road, and the St. 
Peter's Road, and upon the banks of the two rivers 
which skirt the capital, there are several agreeable 
seats upon a moderate scale of outlay, occupied by the 
more wealthy inhabitants. Thus, the vicinity of the town 
affords rides and walks such as the most enthusiastic 
admirers of nature in her softer beauties could choose 
to frequent ; and presents at the same time, the evi- 
dences of increasing wealth, and a state of moral 
advancement, not exceeded in any country whatsoever. 

The Hillsborough or East River, is the largest of 
the three fine rivers which empty themselves into 
Hillsborough Bay. It takes its rise about twenty-two 
miles north-east of Charlotte Town, and in its course, 
receives the waters of many tributary streams. The 
scenery upon this river, during the summer and 
autumn months, is extremely picturesque ; and the 
lands upon its banks are highly fertile, and rapidly 
settling with an industrious population. 

The York river takes its rise about twelve miles 
North of Charlotte Town. The country through which 
it flows is highly fertile, and the lands upon its banks 
are fast settling. 

The Elliot or West River, takes its rise about fifteen 
miles above its confluence with the Rivers Hills- 
borough and York. Like the Hillsborough, 'it is the 
b3 



O QUEEN S COUNTY. 

receptacle of many inferior streams, and its banks are 
highly picturesque. 

Upon the East side of Hillsborough Bay lie the 
harbours of Orwall Bay and Pownal Bay. These are 
chiefly settled with Highlanders. The townships 
Nos. 49, 50 and 57, which embrace their vicinity, 
contain, together, a population of about three thousand 
souls. 

Queen's County is divided into twenty-three town- 
ships, each of which contains about twenty thousand 
acres. It has, besides the Hillsborough Harbour, 
three safe, but less capacious havens on the North 
side of the Island. The largest of these is called 
Grenville Bay, or New London. This harbour admits 
vessels drawing about twelve feet of water, and is the 
receptacle of several streams, the banks of which, 
as well as their vicinity, are in general settled with 
British emigrants or people of British origin. A valu- 
able trade with Newfoundland and the West Indies 
has been commenced at this port, which, by opening a 
new market, has contributed to the prosperity of the 
settlements in its vicinity. 

The New London townships, Nos. 20, and 21, 
contain, together, a population of about sixteen hun- 
dred souls, 

The Harbour and Settlements of Harris Bay or 
Grand and Little Rustico, are next in importance to 
those of New London. The harbour is inferior to that 
of New London, as it does not admit vessels drawing 



ACADIANS. 7 

more than nine or ten feet of water. The lands that 
front the bay, were very early settled by Acadian 
French, who still occupy the most convenient situa- 
tions for New Settlers. Rustico is a sort of head 
quarters of the Acadians, and the residence of the 
Chief French Catholic Priest. They have here a large 
chapel, and have made considerable clearances ; but 
they are not an industrious race ; and withal, have such 
strong prejudices against change, deeming every im- 
provement to be useless innovation, that they cannot be 
considered a thriving people. They divide their time 
between fishing and farming, and do not succeed well 
in either. They are in fact a careless and light-hearted 
people, with the improvidence of Indians, ever pre- 
ferring the passing enjoyments of the hour, to the 
solid pursuits of industry ; so that, reckoning saints' 
days, on every one of which they make holyday, and 
the time they occupy in shooting and other amuse- 
ments, they probably lose about a fifth of the year. 
They have, however, plenty, and they desire no more ; 
so that, however we may regret their peculiarities, or 
compassionate their backward condition, we cannot 
fail to admire their cheerful manners and their con- 
tented dispositions. 

The townships of Grand and Little Rustico, Nos. 
23, 24, and part of 33 and 34, contain together a popu- 
lation of about two thousand souls. 

The harbour of Bedford Bay, or Tracadie, is inferior 
in size to that of Rustico, with about the same depth of 



8 queen's county. 

water upon the bar. The inhabitants are here chiefly 
Highlanders or the descendants of Highlanders, and 
pursue agriculture as their chief avocation. 

The townships Nos. 35 and 36, which embrace 
Tracadie and its vicinity, contain together a population 
of about fifteen hundred souls. 



CHAPTER IT. 



kings county division three rivers murray 

harbour — st. peter's — savage harbour. 

King's County, is the Eastern grand division of the 
Island. It contains twenty-one townships, the im- 
provements upon some of which, it will be necessary 
to particularize in noticing the several settlements, in 
the same manner as has been done in the above 
description of the localities of Queen's County. 

The Bay of Three Rivers, or George Town, is formed 
by the junction of the three rivers, Montague, Cardi- 
gan and Brudnelle. Between the Islands of Panmure 
and Boughton. there is a safe passage, admitting vessels 
of any burden. Upon a conveniently situated point of 
land, between the river Cardigan and the united waters 
of the Brudnelle and the Montague, is placed the 
county town, which is called George Town. George 
Town is laid out in town lots, in the same manner as 
the capital, but has at present but few inhabitants. 
B 4 



10 



THREE RIVERS. 



It is however, conveniently situated, and the buildings 
are fast increasing. 

The fronts of the rivers and the vicinity, are rapidly 
settling with British emigrants or people of British 
extraction, who, like those of all the thriving settle- 
ments in the Island, are for the most part occupied in 
agricultural pursuits. Three Rivers possess the ad- 
vantage of having long established ship yards, in 
which many fine vessels have been built. This is im- 
portant to the settlers, in creating a market within their 
reach, which is at all times available for the disposal 
of the produce of their farms. This harbour is con- 
veniently situated for carrying on the cod fishery of the 
North side of the Island. It has advantages over 
every other harbour, in its position for leaving the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence in the autumn, and in closing 
later at that season, and, opening earlier in the 
spring. 

The townships Nos. 51, 52, 53, 54, 59 and 61, which 
embrace the broad bounds of Three Rivers and its 
vicinity, contain together a population of about six- 
teen hundred souls. 

Besides the bay of Three Rivers, there are in this 
county, several other navigable harbours for the smaller 
class of square rigged vessels, or schooners adapted to 
the trade with Halifax and Newfoundland. Of these, 
Murray harbour is the principal. 

Murray Harbour, lies between Three Rivers- and 
Bear Cape. It has all the advantages of position en- 
joyed by the settlers at Three Rivers; but it is a bar 



MURRAY HARBOUR. 11 

harbour, and does not admit vessels drawing above 
ten or eleven feet of water. 

The inhabitants of the vicinity of Murray Harbour, 
are, for the most part, of British descent. Many of them 
were attracted here by the ship-building establish- 
ments and the trade of the port. Some good farmers, 
have, however, lately come among the earlier settlers, 
and great improvement in the system of cultivating the 
land has been of course the result. 

The townships of Murray Harbour, Nos. 63 and 
64, contain together a population of about nine hun- 
dred souls. 

The Harbour of St. Peters, is situated on the North 
side of the Island. It is a bar harbour, and only 
admits schooners adapted to the trade carried on with 
Halifax and Newfoundland, and for the fisheries. 

The Townships of St. Peters, Nos. 39, 40, and 41, 
contain together a population of about sixteen hun- 
dred souls. 

Savage Harbour, in the same vicinity, is only navi- 
gable for boats. The townships, Nos. 37 and 38, 
which embrace its vicinity, contain together a popula- 
tion of about nine hundred souls. 

Souris, Rollo Bay, Fortune Bay, Howe Bay, and 
Broughton Bay, have their several settlements, con- 
sisting for the most part of Highlanders, or the descen- 
dants of that hardy race. 

The townships, which embrace the settlements 
upon these bays, Nos. 55, 56, 43, 44 and 45, contain 
together a population of nearly three thousand souls. 



12 king's county. 

The townships of 46 and 4" in this vicinity, contain 
a population of about twelve hundred souls ; and are 
in course of settlement, and in a rapidly improving 
condition. 

While enlarging upon these practical statistics, I am 
quite aware that such details cannot but be tedious to 
any reader, who might not belong to one of those 
classes to whom the following pages are especially 
addressed, and who might not also anticipate having 
a personal concern in some interest upon which these 
particulars bear. 

But a whole county yet remains to be in the same 
manner described; and I must intreat the reader who 
contemplates making this fine Island his home, to lend 
his attention to a few more details. 



CHAPTER III. 



PRINCE COUNTY — DIVISION — F7 7 TBE COUVTRY 

RICHMOND BAT PRINCE TOWN BEDEQUE TRTON 

— _ aSCUMPEC KILDARE — LITTLE TIGNICHE GREAT 

TIGNICHE MIMINEGICHE. 

Prince Count ern grand division of the 

Island, and contains twenty-three townships. 

The most remarkable natural feature of this county, 
is the extensive harbour of Richmond Bay. Richmond 
Bay is a broad and deep indent of the sea, completely 
fortified from external danger by a long range of sand 
hillocks. It has two entrance at its south e? 
extremity, and it contains several fine Islands, the 
principal of which are, Lenox or Indian Island, George 
Island, and Bunbury Island. It has also several rivers, 
of which, Ellis or the Grand River, and Goodwood 
River, are the principal. 

The two entrances into the bay are divided by a 
sand island, called Fishery Island, about five or six 
miles in circumference. On the inner side of this 



14 PRINCE TOWN. 

island, there is a deep cove, which is annually fre- 
quented by herrings in incredible abundance, and is 
unquestionably the best station for the herring fishery, 
that can be found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The 
herring season is generally towards the end of May : 
it lasts about ten or twelve days. During this time, 
Fishery Cove is crowded with boats; and the scene, 
rather resembles what is more common in the western 
islands of Scotland, than any thing we are accustomed 
to see in a new country. This fishery is a great ad- 
vantage to the settlements around Richmond Bay and 
to the west, and affords, at a very trifling expense, a 
wholesome article of diet for the year. 

Near the entrance of Richmond Bay is situated the 
county town, called Prince Town. It is laid out upon 
a peninsula formed by Darnley Basin and the March 
water. It has at present so few inhabitants as not to 
be worthy of notice on that account. The vicinity, 
including the whole of the peninsula, however, the 
banks of Darnley Basin, and the first five miles of the 
Charlotte Town road, is well settled with a mixed in- 
dustrious population, of which, the descendants of the 
earlier emigrants from Scotland predominate. 

Prince town is not so well situated with regard to 
its harbour, as are Charlotte Town and George Town. 
Small vessels only, can approach the shore, and these 
cannot come within half a mile of the town, and have 
but indifferent shelter. Darnley Basin, only admits 
vessels of about eight feet draught of water. 

The townships of the vicinity of Prince Town, No. 18 



BEDEQUE. 15 

and 19, contain together a population of about one 
thousand five hundred souls. 

There are very extensive clearances at the head of 
the bay, formerly occupied by the Acadians, and 
called the French village. The present generation, 
however, have combined their capital, and purchased 
lands on the opposite side of the island, on the shore 
of Halifax or Bedeque Bay, and the former clearances 
are in the hands of British descendants. The present 
settlement of the Acadians is called- Muscouche. 

Township No. \7, which embraces the greater part of 
the old, and the whole of the new settlements, contain 
a population of about one thousand souls. 

The townships No. 16, and 14, which include all the 
settlements upon the Ellis or Grand Kiver, contain to- 
gether, a population of about nine hundred souls, of 
which nine tenths are of highland descent. Townships 
13 and 12, which take in the settlements upon the Good- 
wood River, contain together about five hundred souls. 

Besides the harbour of Richmond Bay, there are 
also in this county, those of Bedeque and Cascumpec. 

Bedeque is situated upon the south side of the 
island. It is chiefly occupied by the descendants of 
Loyalists, who settled in the island after the American 
revolutionary war. The timber trade of Bedeque was 
once considerable ; but happily for the interests of a 
better pursuit, little, or no more, of the staple of that 
branch of commerce remains. 

The townships Nos. 25 #nd 26, which embrace the 



16 CASCUMPEC. 

greater part of the settlements of this vicinity, contain 
together a population of about one thousand souls. 

Eastward of Bedeque, upon the south shore, without 
the advantage of a harbour, lies the beautiful settle- 
ment of Tryon Village on township 28, containing a 
population of about eleven hundred souls. 

We now come to the settlements of the most western 
district, the principal of which is that of Cascumpec. 
Cascumpec includes all the settlements upon Holland 
or Cascumpec Bay. This fine bay is defended from 
the sea by a range of picturesque sand hillocks. It 
has a bar at its entrance ; but admits vessels drawing 
about fifteen feet of water, and possesses all the essen- 
tials of a safe and convenient haven. Within the bar, 
between the sand islands which form the entrance to 
the inner habour, lies a flat, upon which there is about 
thirteen feet of water ; so that the larger vessels usu- 
ally fill up their cargoes in the outer harbour. 

Having past the sand islands, as you enter, you sail 
up the inner harbour, which is about a mile and a half 
in breadth, surrounded by the richest natural forest, 
but not without the indications of the existence of 
civilized man. Upon the left hand, lies a beautiful 
island called Savage Island, bordered with red cliffs 
and grassy banks, and entirely covered with a graceful 
mixture of the most luxuriant forest trees, among 
which, the beech and maple predominate. Upon the 
right hand, as you proceed, the land bends round in a 
crescent shape, and forms, with Savage Island on the 



CASCUMPEC. 17 

opposite side, a tranquil harbour, a little less than a 
mile in breadth, and about three miles in length. The 
land which makes the west side of the harbour, is a 
peninsula formed by Ilchester River. Upon this 
peninsula, establishments have for many years existed ; 
and a large farm, with all its appurtenances of barns 
and out-houses, and the tall forest around, present 
to the eye, a scene not surpassed in beauty, or in 
its indications of the capability of maintaining a 
thickly settled population, by any thing to be met with 
in America. 

At the extremity of the peninsula, store-houses have 
been built, and a trade, both with this country and 
Halifax has been sometimes carried on, but not yet to 
the extent that the resources of the district warrant. 
The land forms a natural wharf, and ships moor against 
the beach and make a stage to the shore. 

Cascumpec Bay, is about five miles in breadth. Tt 
receives the waters of several rivers, of which the 
principal are, Hill River and the Foxley River. Hill 
River, penetrates about seven miles into the country in 
a westerly direction. It is a winding and beautiful 
stream, sometimes appearing like a lake, and always 
presenting the most luxuriant foliage to the very 
water's edge or the brink of the cliffs, but often with- 
out any indication of its vicinity to any fixed human 
habitation. The land generally rising as it recedes 
from the river side, presents, evidences of the con- 
tinuity of a fertile soil, and the promises of future 
abundance. 



18 CASCUMPEC. 

Foxley River stretches to the south-west about nine 
miles into the interior, and flows through a country 
abundantly fertile, but from its generally level cha- 
racter, less picturesque than the banks of the Hill 
River. 

The settlements of Cascumpec lie at the head of the 
bay, and upon the smaller rivers near the port. The 
inhabitants are chiefly Acadians, but there are some 
British. The Acadian settlement fronts the bay, occu- 
pying the ground between the entrances of Hill River 
and Foxley River. Here the settlers have erected a 
chapel, commanding a view of the whole bay and of 
the sand islands, which, rising into seven conical hills, 
called the Seven Sisters, add variety to the scenery, in 
relieving the prospect of the eternal forest. 

The Acadians, as before observed, are too much 
given to holy-day-making, to thrive among the indus- 
trious settlers of British origin ; and the effect of this 
is more apparent here than at Rustico. Instead of 
adding fishing to their better occupation of farming, 
the Cascumpec Acadians, have been engaged in what 
is called lumbering ; that is, felling and manufacturing 
timber ; and they have experienced the worst effects 
of that demoralizing pursuit. 

The British settlers of Cascumpec are more thriv- 
ing, especially some few who have attended exclusively 
to the cultivation of their farms. 

The harbour of Cascumpec is the best station in the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence for cod fishing establishments. 
Herrings, in the month of May enter the habour in 



CASCUMPEC. 19 

prodigious shoals, and are easily taken in sufficient 
quantity to supply the wants of the settlers ; but they, 
sometimes, do not shoal here, which renders a full 
supply for the purposes of commerce uncertain.* But 
the cove of Fishery Island before mentioned, at the 
mouth of Richmond Bay, the great rendezvous of the 
herrings, is so near, that when they fail at Cascumpec, 
they may be followed there, about ten days later in 
the season, without any danger of disappointment. 
But more will be said on the importance of these 
fisheries, when we come to speak of the prospective 
commerce of the Island. 

This description of Cascumpec, may be thought 
somewhat more particular than the wild and unculti- 
vated tracts of that district might seem to demand. 
But that its fertile lands remain more unpeopled than 
those of other districts of the island, is alone a suf- 
ficient reason for their more particular notice. The 
settlements of Cascumpec, are destined to be the 
richest agricultural portion of the island. Its port 
too, will probably be the principal place for the de- 
barkation of emigrants for the time to come. But 
were there none of these reasons, it might be par- 
doned as we excuse the inscription upon a grave stone, 
which stops the traveller to inform him of some 

* I have witnessed the catch of five hundred barrels 
in the twenty-four hours, with four boats navigated by 
twelve men : and, as many thousand barrels might have 
been taken before the season was over, had preparations 
been made for curing them. 



20 KILDARE. 

humour or scene in which the mind of the inanimate 
clay beneath, when living, most delighted. It is the 
record of a spirit departed from the deep but cheerful 
solitudes, where it rejoiced in extreme youth, and, wan- 
dering amidst the forests, dreamed of nourishing towns 
and peopled villages, which every creek and every 
grove foretold — a spirit, departed for ever from the 
scenes where, and where only, it ever felt the full 
pleasure of existence, without weariness and the de- 
sire of change. 

About four miles north of Cascumpec Bay, is situ- 
ated Kildare, a settlement consisting of farms along 
the sea shore. This settlement and its vicinity, pos- 
sess the advantage of an annual deposit of marine 
manure. The sea, every spring, throws up as much 
kelp, as to cover the shores from Kildare River to 
Cape Kildare, two or three feet in depth ; and this 
valuable commodity remains untouched, except by four 
or five farmers at whose very doors it is deposited, 
until carried to sea again by the currents and flood- 
tides, or melted by the heat of the sun. 

The townships Nos. 4, 5, and 6, include the settle- 
ments of Cascumpec and Kildare. They, as yet, con- 
tain together no more than about five hundred souls. 

About ten miles north of Kildare lie Little Tigniche 
and Great Tigniche. These settlements are situated 
upon two ponds or small lakes, both of which have 
outlets into the sea ; but the largest and most northern 
only, will admit even boats adapted for fishing. Little 
Tigniche, is, however, the resort of fish of a species 



TIGMCHE. 



21 



resembling the herring, and called alewives or gas- 
peraux. They are taken by the settlers in great 
quantities. 

These two settlements are wholly peopled by 
Acadians, whose condition is a remarkable instance of 
the advantage of closely following one pursuit. They 
have attended exclusively to farming, and, although, a 
people wedded to prejudices the most opposed to im- 
provement, and having no knowlege of agriculture but 
the practice of their forefathers, nor desiring more ; 
and who, moreover, spend one fifth of the year in holy- 
day making, they are yet in a condition superior to that 
of their neighbours of the same origin, and may there- 
fore, be said to flourish. They have abundance of 
every necessary of life, and are contented and happy. 

There are two ponds of the same description on the 
Western coast, called Great Miminegiche and Little 
Miminegiche. They are settled by Acadian French 
also, with a few emigrant Irish families. They are 
frequented also by the alewives in the same abundance 
as Little Tigniche. 

The townships of these settlements, Nos. 1 and 2, 
contain together a population of about 800 souls. 

On the south coast of this district lies Egmont Bay, 
the shores of which abound with rich salt marshes, 
which afford a valuable aid to the agricultural settlers 
in their vicinity. 

The townships upon Egmont Bay, are 8, 9, and 10. 

The entire population of the island is about forty 
thousand souls. 



CHAPTER IV. 



CLIMATE — SOIL — NATIVE PRODUCTIONS. 

The climate of Prince Edward Island is highly 
favorable to the pursuits of agriculture and the health 
of the inhabitants. It differs from that of England in 
the winter more than at any other season. The un- 
wholesome and damp chills of an English winter are 
unknown in the Island; and the diseases w T hich a 
moist atmosphere originates, are uncommon at any 
time. The cold is more severe, and endures for a 
longer period; so that for about four months, all 
agricultural pursuits, properly so called,, are of neces- 
sity suspended. But this is not of so much moment as 
to materially effect those interests which are connected 
with the soil ; for the winter is both shorter and less 
severe in the Island, than in those counties on the 
Baltic which export agricultural produce, and whose 
inhabitants, are for the most part engaged in the rural 
occupations. The days too are considerably longer at 
that season in the Island, than in those countries, 



CLIMATE. 23 

which is material, both as to health and to labor. I 
shall briefly describe the peculiarities of each season, 
beginning with that which differs the most from the 
corresponding season in Britain. 

After a serene and usually dry October, the weather 
begins to get more unsteady in the early part of 
November, and sometimes a sharp frost, with showers 
of snow, takes place before the middle of that month ; 
but when this occurs, the October weather returns 
again, and commonly lasts about ten days or a fort- 
night. This short interval is called the " Indian 
Summer." When it occurs, the frost does not gene- 
rally set in before the beginning of December ; but the 
cold weather more commonly begins about the 20th 
November, and gradually increases, until the ground 
resists the plough, which is ordinarily about the 
second week in December. The cold now increases 
rapidly, and the ground becomes covered with snow ; 
and about Christmas, the frost is as intense as 
that experienced during the severest winters in Eng- 
land. 

During the months of January and February, the 
weather is usually steady, with the thermometer very 
frequently below zero of Fahrenheit. But some- 
times a thaw takes place, and, by laying the ground 
bare of its winter covering, occasions great incon- 
veniences. The travelling is suspended, or becomes 
difficult, the roads being rendered unfit for either 
sledge or wheel carriages ; and the hauling of fire- 
wood, which the farmer usually accomplishes at that 



24 CLIMATE. 

season, is prevented. The meadows are sometimes 
injured too by the exposure of the land to the frost, 
should it become very severe before another fall of 
snow. 

During this season, the farmer occupies his time in 
thrashing out his grain, preparing new fences for the 
spring, building new T out-houses, adding to his dwell- 
ing house, and hauling his firing for the year. The 
weather is not so cold as to interfere with any outdoor 
occupations, and the length of day at the winter sol- 
stice, by reason of the difference of latitude, is about 
an hour longer at Charlotte Town than at London. 

March, as in Europe, is a windy month, and is 
throughout very changeable. About the close of this 
month, the snow rapidly melts, and the ice in the 
rivers and bays gets rotten and dangerous to pass ; 
and wholly disappears, except in a late season, about 
the second week in April. Strong southerly winds 
now commence, and the last vestiges of frost speedily 
vanish. Ploughing generally commences about the 
third week of this month ; and before the middle of 
the next, unless the season be unusually late, the 
greater part of the seed is committed to the ground. 

The spring is short ; and during the month of May, 
the mean temperature is little lower than is common 
during the same month in England, though there are 
occasionally very cold and raw easterly winds. But 
toward the end of this month, steady weather is gene- 
rally established. 

In the beginning of June, the summer bursts forth ; 



CLIMATE. 25 

and the natural forest, presenting to the eye every 
variety of vegetation, and filling the air with the 
fragrant perfumes of the native herbs of the island, 
gives abundant evidence of the fertility of the soil ; 
and at the same time affords an opportunity for the 
lovers of nature to gratify their enthusiasm, or in- 
dulge their taste for contemplative enjoyment. 

The brilliancy of a summer night in the vicinity of 
the bays, cannot be surpassed by that which the finest 
climates under heaven exhibit. The wind is usually 
still, and the smooth surface of the water reflects the 
splendid lights of the firmament; and wherever the 
current runs, the fishes are heard sporting in the 
stream ; and on the shore, whole acres are sometimes 
illuminated by the fire-flies, which emit flashes of 
light as they sport in the air ; and now and then a 
torch is seen displayed at the bow of the canoe of 
some Indian engaged in spearing the eels. 

From this time, until the middle or the end of Sep- 
tember, the climate resembles that of the southern 
coast of England. The thermometer, occasionally, 
during calm weather, shows a greater degree of heat 
than we experience in this country ; but the sea breeze 
seldom fails to lower the temperature, by the time the 
sun reaches the zenith, so that no inconvenience thence 
arises. But during the prevalence of the south-west 
winds, throughout the greater part of July, August, and 
September, the thermometer stands pretty steadily at 
from 75 to 80 degrees of Fahrenheit during the mid^ 
c 



26 CLIMATE. 

hours of the day ; and, at night, the air is soft, whole- 
some, and agreeable. 

The hay har%~est commences about the middle of 
July ; and the white crops are usually cut between the 
middle and the last of August. 

About the middle of September, the evenings begin 
to get cool, and the autumn properly commences. No- 
thing can exceed the beauty or the healthiness of this 
season of the year. The atmosphere is exceedingly 
rarified, and the deep azure of the clear sky reflects a 
darker shade upon the waters ; while the forests, as 
they change from the rich green of summer to the 
thousand autumnal tints which the variety of their 
kinds exhibit, present scenery unsurpassed in beauty 
or in the hopes of future plenty which they inspire, 
by any thing to be met with in the old or new world. 

The Aurora Borealis, though common at all times 
of the year, is, during the early part of autumn, more 
splendid than at any other season. It sometimes ap- 
pears like the reflection of the lights of this great me- 
tropolis upon the sky when seen from a distance upon 
a clear night ; but it often covers the whole compass 
of heaven, and in red, blue, green, and.yellow streams, 
illumines the wide expanse ; and changing its colours 
as it continually flashes across the firmament, presents 
a spectacle unrivalled by any other phenomenon which 
nature any where displays. 

Prince Edward Island, is entirely free from those 
fogs which infest the surrounding countries of New 
Brunswick, Xova Scotia, and Cape Breton. This re- 



soil. 27 

mark able exemption from the visits of that enemy to 
personal comfort, I have elsewhere endeavoured to 
account for.* It is not among the least of the advan- 
tages which the island enjoys over the provinces in its 
vicinity, and over the eastern states of the Union. 
The air is always clear and salubrious ; and the climate 
at all seasons, is much healthier than that of the greater 
part of Upper Canada, or of any part of the United 
States. 

The intermittent fevers of Upper Canada and the 
United States, with several other diseases incident to 
the latter, are of very rare occurrence, or entirely un- 
known in the island : nor does any endemic disorder 
whatever here exist. There is no country where the 
peasantry enjoy better health, or where more instances 
of longevity occur. I believe, though I am not able 
in this instance to speak from actual investigation, 
that more people in this island attain the age of a 
hundred, than in any other part of America. 

The fertility of the soil of Prince Edward Island, 
is sufficiently indicated by its natural productions. 
The whole face of the country, with inconsiderable 
exceptions, is, or was originally, covered with forest 
trees of the richest foliage, and of great variety in their 
kinds. The general character of the soil is that of 
an unctuous loamy mould. In some parts, the pro- 
portions of sand prevail over its more fertile proper- 
ties, and in others, a rich marly loam predominates. 

* See the Emigrant's Introduction to the British Ameri- 
can Colonics, &c. page 207. 

C2 



28 soil. 

without approaching to the character of the heavy 
clay soils in Great Britain. Its peculiar properties are 
generally known by its original productions ; and 
where maple of its several kinds, and beech and black 
birch, intermixed with the larger species of the fir 
tribe, prevail and attain the greatest perfection, they 
are justly considered conclusive evidence of the su- 
perior quality of the soil. 

Sometimes the forests are open, and the trees so far 
apart, that you may ride through the country without 
roads ; but they are generally too much mixed with 
trees of a smaller growth, or the way is obstructed by 
wind-falls, or they have too much underwood to per- 
mit the traveller to make a straight course, even on 
foot. But, the more obstruction to the first efforts at 
cultivation that we meet, the more certain we may be, 
that we have chosen a soil that will soon repay the 
capital and labor we apply to subdue it to the pur- 
poses of profitable increase. The ground, is every 
where easily worked. Sometimes the settlers plough 
with a pair of bullocks or one horse ; and it is rarely 
necessary to use more than two light horses or two 
pair of bullocks. The sub-soil is in some places a 
stiff clay, very well adapted for making bricks ; and 
in others, it is a solid bed of sand stone, which is very 
easily worked when first dug, and which becomes 
hard by exposure to the air. This renders it ad- 
mirably adapted for building, though I believe, there 
is but one house that is worthy of notice, constructed 
of it, at present in the island. 



NATIVE PRODUCTIONS. 29 

There are some districts, but they are not extensive, 
where the soil is very sandy, and hardly at present, 
worth cultivating. The lands of this discription, in 
their wild state, are indicated by their productions, 
which are usually scrubby spruces and other species 
of firs of stinted growth. 

There are also swampy lands of considerable extent 
in some of the districts ; but as no attempt has been 
made to bring these into cultivation, we can only con- 
jecture from the natural grass they produce wherever 
they are not o\er-run with spruces and thick bushes, 
that they will, as the population increases, be found 
easily convertable into good pasture lands. 

A few observations upon the native productions of 
the island, may not improperly precede, what it will 
be necessary to say of the produce of the cultivated 
districts. 

The predominant tree of the forest, is the common 
beech. This tree attains its perfection upon the best 
lands : it is a clean and useful wood, and is much used 
in ship building, being found to be very durable under 
water. 

Birch, ranks next to beech, as to the quantity which 
the native forest produces. There are several species 
of this genus, but the two principal, are, the black and 
the white. The black birch attains to a much larger 
size than the beech, and is a useful wood in ship build- 
ing, cabinet making, and mill machinery. 

The white birch does not grow very large, and ex- 
cept for fire-wood, is of no use to the settlers. The 
c3 



30 FOREST TREES. 

Indians, however, construct their canoes of the bark 
of this tree. 

There are several kinds of maple which attain to a 
large size. The principal, is the rock or bird's-eye- 
maple. Some of this is annually sent to England, 
where it is used for cabinet work. It is about the 
color of satin-wood, but being spotted with marks re- 
sembling birds-eyes, from which it receives its name, 
it is a much handsomer wood $ but it will not be much 
esteemed until it becomes more scarce. 

The sap of the maple tree produces sugar, which is 
manufactured by the older settlers, especially the Aca- 
dians and those of highland descent, but is rarely 
sold ; and the more recent English settlers value their 
time too highly, to employ it in the manufacture of an 
article, which is but a poor substitute for what the 
produce of their farms will well enable them to pur- 
chase. 

Elm and oak are found in the island, but the trees 
of these species are not numerous, nor is their timber 
valuable. The same with the willow, ash, poplar, and 
several others. 

There are great varieties of the fir tribe, the prin- 
cipal of which, is the yellow pine. This tree grows 
to an enormous size, and was formerly very plentiful 
in the island ; but except in the district of Cascumpec 
in Prince County, it has been nearly all cut down and 
exported. 

The hemlock or hemlock fir is a valuable wood, and 
grows to a size, nearly equal to that of the pine. It is 



NATIVE FRUITS. 31 

exported as lathwood, and used in the country for 
flooring and wainscotting, but is not durable when ex- 
posed to the weather. It is used also for the founda- 
tion of wharfs always under water, and its bark is 
valuable for tanning leather. 

There are several kinds of spruce, of which, the 
black is the most valuable. It is used for spars for 
large vessels, and for the masts of the smaller, and also 
for the top-sides and decks of ships. 

The white cedar is common in the district of Cas- 
cumpec, and from its durability is valuable for shingles 
for exportation to the West Indies. 

There are several wild fruits indigenous, and very 
plentiful in the island. The more esteemed, are the 
cranberry, the strawberry, and the raspberry. The 
common American cranberry is well known in this 
country ; but the sort which the island produces is su- 
perior to any to be found on the continent. Straw- 
berries are plentiful, but they are small, and inferior 
in flavor to the garden strawberry of this country. 
The Raspberries, however, which are exceedingly 
abundant, are not inferior to those which are produced 
by the most careful cultivation at home. Where the 
woods have been burnt, or the land cleared and left 
uncultivated, they are found in great quantities ; and 
they are common in all parts of the island by the road 
side. 

Besides these, there are wild cherries, blue-berries 
or whortle berries, and currants and gooseberries. 
The wild cherries, have, as a medicine, powerful as- 



32 NATIVE FRUITS. 

tringent qualities. The blue-berries are a very agree- 
able fruit ; but the wild currants and gooseberries are 
scarcely eatable, though the trees of both kinds im- 
ported from England, especially of the currants, whether 
black, white, or red, produce the most delicious fruit in 
great abundance. 

There are great quantities of, what in the island is 
usually called, sarsaparilla ; but some of it brought to 
this country was pronounced by a medical gentleman 
of eminence, to be a plant unknown to him, and cer- 
tainly not sarsaparilla. It has, however, medicinal 
virtues, and is used by the Indians to cure what they 
call a sore chest, in other words, a severe cold. 



CHAPTER V. 

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS — MANURES — GARDEN- 
VEGETABLES — STOCK. 

I shall now proceed to speak of those productions 
of the country which recompense human industry, and 
which bear a nearer affinity to the interests of the 
greater portion of such capitalists as may contemplate 
transferring their property, and industrious efforts to 
this colony. 

None of the farinaceous and necessary vegetable 
productions of the soil of Great Britain, yield a more 
bountiful return for the labors of the agriculturists at 
home, than those of the same kind, with less skill and 
less labor in their cultivation, produce in Prince Ed- 
ward Island ; and some, among those which may be 
considered necessaries, exceed the average returns of 
their kind in England ; while others, to be classed 
among the luxuries of the table, are produced with 
less care, and attain to greater perfection in the island, 
than in any part of England. 

Summer wheat, whether red or white, is at present 
the great object of the farmer's attention, and yields a 
c4 



34 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. 

bountiful return. Vegetation is much more rapid in 
the island than in England ; and corn committed to 
the ground about the first or second week in May, is 
usually reaped before the middle of September. The 
average increase of the wheat crop, it is difficult to dis- 
cover, as the farmers rarely know the size of their 
fields, or how much they sow upon any single acre, 
but have a very erroneous method of estimating the 
fertility of the soil by the increase upon what they 
sow. But according to the best calculations I could 
make, without a thorough practical knowledge of 
the subject, the average production of the lands, of 
at least the western districts, under fair cultivation, 
would not seem to be overrated at from eighteen to 
twenty-two bushels an acre ; but it is stated by many 
to be much higher. And this too, it should be remem- 
bered, is the produce of spring wheat upon a soil as 
yet imperfectly known. That of autumn wheat, would 
probably much exceed this ; but it has not been fairly 
tried, owing to a prevalent opinion that the winters 
are too severe to admit its general production, not- 
withstanding it has been successfully cultivated in 
several instances. Some German settlers, will pro- 
bably before long, put the island farmers in the way 
of overcoming the difficulties hitherto experienced in 
raising this more productive species of corn. 

Barley and oats, are the next objects of the farmer's 
attention. These grow luxuriantly, especially the 
latter, the average produce of which is certainly not 
over estimated at forty-five bushels of forty pound's 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. 35 

weight an acre. Barley, probably averages about 
thirty-five bushels. 

Potatoes yield abundantly, under very indifferent 
cultivation; they are of excellent quality, and well 
known in the neighbouring provinces. The average 
produce is variously stated. Upon new land, manured 
by the ashes of the timber burnt upon it, they will 
sometimes yield from three hundred and fifty to four 
hundred bushels an acre, allowing for the waste 
spaces occasioned by the stumps still standing ; but 
three hundred piled Winchester bushels, is by no 
means an over estimate for an average crop upon land 
under the plough, and fairly cultivated. 

The average produce of barley, oats, and potatoes, 
in Prince Edward Island, very much exceeds that of 
the best lands in the United States. 

Rye and buck wheat produce abundant crops, but 
they are not much cultivated. 

Hops grow better here than in any part of Britain, 
and they are, as far as yet tried, which has not been ex- 
tensively, a certain crop ; which, should it so prove to 
be, will give the hop growers in the island, a material 
advantage over the producers in England. There is 
not, at present, much consumption for them, and they 
have not yet been exported. 

Some flax is raised in the highland and Acadian 
settlements, but only for domestic use. The women 
manufacture it, and employ it to make their husband's 
shirts, and for necessary household purposes. Hemp 
will also grow, but it is not cultivated. 



36 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. 

Maize or Indian corn, is sometimes sown, but it 
does not equal that grown in more southern countries. 
It is not often ground to flour, but when boiled in its 
green state, it is a delicious vegetable, and from ex- 
perience I can confidently recommend it as an exceed- 
ingly wholesome article of diet. 

Turnips do well, especially the Sweedish. Of the 
other kinds, the yellow is considered the sweetest and is 
the most prolific. Turnips shouldbe sown about the end 
of July. They are subject to be cut off by the fly as in 
England ; but a Glostershire farmer used to sow them 
on a farm at Cascumpec, three days before the change 
of the moon, which affords time, as it would seem, for 
them to get their defence against the mischievous in- 
sect, before it recovers from a change which it appears 
to undergoe at that period.* English farmers will pro- 
bably know whether the emigrant agriculturist was in- 
debted to his cunning, or to chance, for his success ; 
which, however, was unfailing, after this precaution was 
practised. Parsnips also grow well in the island. 

The rotation of crops, is usually, wheat with hay seed, 
after potatoes, where the land is not remarkbly rich ; 
but on the better soils, the farmers generally take an- 
other white crop after the wheat, and sometimes two, 

* This may appear startling, but natural science is every 
day discovering causes and effects which have hitherto been 
unsuspected ; and in many instances, modern discovery has 
led to the revival and establishment of facts which were be- 
lieved by our ancestors, but have since been held unworthy 
the attention of philosophers. 



MANURES. 37 

before they lay it clown to meadow, or put it again in 
green crops, or employ manure. 

The grass most commonly used in the country, is 
the timothy. It is usually sown mixed with cow 
grass, which is a perennial red clover. This mixture, 
with the thick rich native white clover, which the land 
every where spontaneously produces, forms a most 
luxuriant meadow, and yields under favorable circum- 
stances about three tons per acre. 

As there can be nothing of more importance to the 
agriculturist than the means of fertilizing his land, so 
there is no country where the manures, not dependent 
upon the husbandman's economy, are more abundant, 
or more easily obtained ; and this, as it need not be 
added, is a matter of especial importance to those 
settlers who begin their labours with the axe. If they 
are near a river, two or three should unite and keep 
a skow or flat-bottom barge, which they would find 
greatly facilitate their means of obtaining the rich 
animal and vegetable deposits of the rivers and 
bays. 

The richest and most endurable of the marine ma- 
nures, is the muscle mud. It consists of decayed 
muscles and shells mixed with mud, and is found in 
many of the rivers. It is said to prolong its fertilizing 
effects when ploughed into the ground, for twelve or 
fourteen years, and even for five and twenty or thirty, 
where the soil is best adapted to retain it. The kelp 
weed has been mentioned, in speaking of Kildare and 
Cascumpec. 



38 GARDEN VEGETABLES. 

Within all the bays and rivers of the country, there 
are larger or less deposits of a kind of sea weed, known 
by the name of eel grass. This is very inferior to 
kelp or muscle mud, and has been so badly managed, 
and so little appreciated, that some even think that it 
produces or encourages the growth of couch-grass, but 
this is palpably an error. It might just as well be 
said, that it produces any other weed that is common 
to the land of a prejudiced and slovenly husbandman. 
If it be collected in the spring, (and in this case the 
new grass is the best), and made a compost of, with a 
fair mixture of stable manure ; or, if that which is 
half decomposed, and within the harbours (of which 
there is abundance in every stage of decay) be col- 
lected early in the autumn, and spread a foot deep or 
more, over the byre and stable yards, it will become an 
excellent manure for either the white or green crops 
of the following season. In truth, the value of the 
marine deposits, as independent manures, is not half 
known, nor will their worth be fully appreciated, until 
more agricultural capitalists take up their residence 
in the country. 

Beans and peas yield well, but I do not know their 
average produce per acre. Those cultivated in the gar- 
dens are superior to any grown in England. 

All the vegetables common to our English gardens 
do well in the island; and most of those that are pro- 
duced in this country, by the aid only of artificial heat, 
or the most careful culture, such as cucumbers, aspa- 
ragus, and melons, attain perfection in the open air in 



GARDEN FRUITS. 39 

the island, without the application of much horticul- 
tural skill. 

The ordinary fruits of the table, such as apples, pears, 
cherries, plums, grow well, but are not yet much culti- 
vated. Currants of all kinds, and gooseberries, as before 
observed, produce abundantly. Strawberries and rasp- 
berries are too plentiful in the woods to be worth cul- 
tivating in the gardens. With the more delicate fruits 
which we rear in this country, such as grapes, nec- 
tarines, peaches, some experiments are now making. 

After this list of the spontaneous and artificial pro- 
ductions of the soil of the island, some observations 
upon the stock naturally follow : I shall then make 
a few remarks upon the methods of farming practised 
by the first and the later settlers in the colony. 

From the time of the French, who were in pos- 
session of the island up to the year 1759, until the 
administration of Governor Heady, between the years 
1824 and 1830, little change had been made in the 
stock of horses, black cattle, hogs or sheep, so that the 
greater part of the stock is still of the original breed. 

The horses are in general small, but strong, hardy, 
docile and patient of fatigue, and moreover, long-lived. 
They will draw greater weights ; and when taken di- 
rectly from pasture, will perform longer journeys 
than English horses, swimming rapid rivers of 
sometimes a mile in breadth. They are also soci- 
able animals. The most sagacious, when bred at a 
distance from the populous settlements, will, in the 
summer time, if far from home, follow you for miles 



40 STOCK. 

in the woods in spite of every obstruction. They 
dread being alone in the forest at any time. When 
you travel in the winter behind a young horse, and are 
for some time silent, the animal will begin to fear he 
is alone : he will first stop and attempt to look round, 
but being prevented seeing by his blinkers, he will 
run and stop again ; and after attempting to turn, 
which he cannot do on account of the snow on each side 
of the narrow sleigh road, he will start off again, with 
the action and speed of a scared deer. But the instant 
you speak, the affrighted animal will stand still, and 
then resume his ordinary pace, resembling, alike in 
his confidence and his timidity, a higher order of 
being degraded to the same dependence, and some- 
times worse treated, in the south, than the beasts of 
burden in a land unpolluted by the anomalies of social 
order and the debasing influence of slavery. Horses 
are supposed on these occasions to scent a bear, an 
animal for which they have no great predilection; 
but bears are seldom seen near the roads, and at this 
season they lie under the snow. It appears to be the 
love of society, and the sense of dependence, that 
gives the horse so strong a distaste for the solitude of 
the woods. 

Governor Ready brought a thorough-bred horse, 
and a mare to the colony, since which, several others 
have been imported ; so that the breed of both farm 
and pleasure horses is greatly improved. 

The black cattle of the island are smaller than those 
of England. The ordinary weight of an ox raised in 



STOCK. 41 

the more cultivated districts, may be about eight hun- 
dred weight without hide and tallow. The beef is 
however tender when the bullocks are not too much 
worked, as is often the case among the Acadian and 
highland settlers, and those who begin to cultivate the 
land without sufficient capital to enable them to pur- 
chase a horse. 

The milk, butter, and cheese, are inferior to what 
we are accustomed to get in England ; but as new 
stock has of late years been imported, this source of 
the agriculturist's profits will yearly improve. 

As to sheep, they were until very lately, with the 
exception of a few about the capital, a miserable 
sample. They are, however, as far as breeding is 
concerned, as it is obvious to farmers, more easily im- 
proved by importations than any other stock ; and as 
great attention has been given to their improvement 
by the agricultural society, whose efforts for the 
general interests of the country it will be necessary to 
notice in a future page, there is no question about the 
result. They are indeed, at this time, nearly double 
the size the sheep of the island were twenty years 
ago, and produce a proportionate quantity of wool. 

The swine of the country are suffered to run too 
much at large to thrive well. Some farmers, have how- 
ever, attended to the breed of them; and, pork may 
be obtained of as good quality in the Charlotte Town 
market, as in most parts of England. Some hogs of 
a large breed were some years ago imported, but I do 
not know whether they were found profitable to raise. 



42 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 

But at an hotel in Charlotte Town, the ear of a pig 
whose carcase weighed nine hundred pounds, was put 
on the table as a side dish ; and mine host, who him- 
self fed the animal, informed his guests, that it was 
not properly fattened when he killed it, and that he 
should be able to kill a much larger in a few weeks. 

Domestic fowls, and also geese and ducks, are raised 
with great ease in the country, and are plentiful. 
Turkeys, however, for which the climate seems well 
adapted, since the wild species are abundant in Canada, 
have not yet been raised in great plenty in any part of 
the Island. 

Both the methods of cultivation and the breeding of 
stock, with every other interest connected with agri- 
culture, are in a rapidly improving condition. Before 
the administration of Governor Ready, little enter- 
prise existed in the country. The island had for a 
series of years been a prey to mis-government and 
party dissensions, and every thing which concerned 
its best interests was at a stand ; bat this officer, by 
the example which he set in the cultivation of the 
soil, and the importation of stock, threw open the legi- 
timate sources of the most profitable pursuits, and 
pointed out the natural channels of the future wealth 
of an island, situated in the vicinity of countries pos- 
sessing a less congenial climate and less fertile soil. 

The first great effort towards the improvement of 
these important interests, was the establishment of an 
agricultural society, which was founded under the 
auspices of the governor in the year 1826. This was 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 43 

speedily followed by the institution of branch societies, 
and the rise of a spirit of inquiry, which will ere long, 
develope the great natural resources of the country. 
Through the means of these societies, stock of various 
descriptions, new seed, and improved implements have 
been imported ; and trials of skill in ploughing, and in 
the cultivation of the several articles of produce most 
desirable to improve, have been instituted, and rewards 
given for the best samples ; and these are expedients 
of which the utility is well known. 



CHAPTER VI. 



NATIVE ANIMALS OF THE FOREST — FISHES — INSECTS. 

The more remarkable of the native animals, greatly 
contributed, in the early settlement of the island, to 
its commerce, as well as the supply of some of the 
necessary articles of winter clothing to its inhabitants. 
Among these, the bears, foxes, otters, martins, minks, 
were the most useful. There are still bears enough 
found in the country to supply the wants of the settlers, 
but not enough to commit more mischief than now 
and then to carry away a pig or a sheep. They are by 
no means either so savage or so numerous as to be an 
object of dread to the most timid; and as a price is 
now set upon their devoted heads, those that remain 
will soon disappear. 

The red fox-skin is still an article of commerce. 
Foxes are chiefly shot or trapped by the Indians, and 
their skins exported to England by the resident mer- 
chants. There are silver grey and black foxes to be 
met with, but they are very scarce. 



NATIVE ANIMALS. 45 

Seals, and sea-cows, (the walrus) were formerly 
numerous upon the north coast of the island. The 
sea-cows have now quite abandoned the country, 
though the seals still frequent the coast and the rivers 
in the spring and autumn. They afford materials for 
the moccasins worn for shoes by the Indians and 
some of the older settlers in winter ; and oil, though 
not in sufficient quantity to supply the wants of the 
inhabitants. The seacows are now supposed to rarely 
leave the northern shores of the Gulf; but the seals 
are very numerous about the Magdalen Islands, which 
lie near the north coast of Prince Edward Island ; and 
they are sometimes taken in considerable numbers by 
the Acadians of Rustico, who, as before observed, are 
more employed in the fisheries than any of the other 
settlers. 

The wild birds of the island are numerous. Those 
most esteemed for the table, and which afford the best 
sport, are, the geese, brant or barnacle, and the black 
duck. These all migrate, with many others, and visit 
the island in spring and autumn. Partridges are also 
in great plenty ; but they are too tame to afford any 
sport. The curlew, snipe, plover, and a variety of 
birds of their kind, are also numerous. Wild pigeons 
are. likewise plentiful in summer. 

The fishes of the island are delicate in flavor, and 
plentiful. The cod, herrings, and alewive or gasperaux 
are objects of commerce, and will therefore claim 
further attention under that head. The cod, is too 
abundant to be much esteemed for the table. 



46 FISHES. 

Herrings are plentiful in spring, and to be obtained 
in autumn. They are larger than the herrings in the 
European seas, and are equal to any in flavor. 

Alewives are plentiful in spring ; but they are not 
esteemed for the table : they are a dry and insipid fish. 

Salmon are scarce. They are, I believe, only taken 
in the Morel River, which falls into St. Peter's Bay 
on the north side of the island. 

The mackerel, are larger than those upon the Eng- 
lish coast, and they are exceedingly abundant. 

Trout of the finest description abound in almost every 
stream, but they are very improperly taken at all seasons. 

Eels were formerly very plentiful in the island, but 
they are now comparatively scarce. They most abound, 
wherever the bottom of the river is a mixture of mud 
and sand. Here they embed themselves about a foot 
deep. They are taken chiefly by the Indians, who 
pierce the mud with a spear by day, or attract them 
when they leave their retreats at night, by a flam- 
beau placed at the bow of their canoes. 

Smelt are plentiful, as are many species of flat-fish, 
none of which are much esteemed. 

Oysters and lobsters are the only good shell-fish to 
be got in the island. The oysters are extremely good, 
and of several sorts. There are two opinions respect- 
ing their flavor. Some think them very superior to 
the English oysters, while others think them inferior. 
Some kinds are very large, but none are gross. The 
largest are usually the shape of half a horse shoe, and 
not much smaller than one of the largest size. 



REPTILES. 47 

As to lobsters, the best description of their abundance 
that can be given, is, to say, that they are on that, and 
on that account only, despised by the older settlers. 
They should never be permitted to appear at dinner, 
and should not be eaten for breakfast or supper above 
once a week. After many years observance of this 
rule, I left the island with as powerful a relish for 
them as ever. They are in great plentv in the har- 
bours, but the best are caught at sea. When brought 
to the wharf at Charlotte Town, (for I do not know 
whether they are ever carried to the market), the boys 
who usually catch them, sell them for a halfpenny or 
a penny a piece. 

There are no poisonous reptiles in the island, but 
there are some harmless snakes, and some musical 
frogs. The frogs are numerous in the swamps and 
ponds. They he in a dormant state under the ice 
during the winter, and in the spring, when the sun 
reanimates all around them, they also feel his genial 
ray, and lift up their voices in general chorus, to the 
annoyance of some and the amusement of others. But 
for my part, I would not miss their evening chant for 
the finest morning concert that London affords. — But 
this, of course, is matter of taste. Strangers sometimes 
mistake their harmonious strains for the notes of some 
unknown bird ; but they are more like those of the 
eolian harp than any thing else I remember. 

But if there are no dangerous reptiles there are 
several troublesome insects. The musquito or com- 
mon gnat, the black-fly or gallinipper as it is very ap- 



48 INSECTS. 

propriately called in Newfoundland, and the sand-fly, 
are all that are worth naming. These are exceedingly 
annoying in the woods during the months of July and 
August. The first is found wherever the forest exists, 
but the other two are only met with in particular 
situations. Charlotte Town, is however, free from all ; 
nor indeed, are any to be found where the woods are 
cleared away; and none are so troublesome in the 
island as upon the continent. 



CHAPTER VII. 



IMPORTS AND EXPORTS, AND PROSPECTIVE COMMERCE. 

The commerce of the island consists in the export 
of its productions to Great Britain, the West Indies, 
and the neighbouring provinces, and in the import of 
such necessary articles as the mother country or the 
sister colonies can supply. The sources of production 
have been various, and often so unprofitable, that there 
has hitherto been some difficulty in making the ex- 
ports balance the necessary imports, from which has 
arisen a scarcity of money. The improvements in 
agriculture, and the increase of industry and capital, 
have, however, since the better administration, of the 
government of the colony, opened the channels of 
commerce, most natural to a fertile land ; and the 
yearly increase of the produce of the soil, warrants 
the assumption, that the island will soon export more 
than will cover its necessary importations. 

The exports to England formerly consisted chiefly 
D 



50 COMMERCE. 

of timber. But this is the very worst branch of trade that 
a rural population could be called upon to support. 
It begets dissolute habits, and is a nursery of moral 
depravity. It has diverted the agriculturist from his 
more steady pursuits ; and if it has sometimes been a 
great source of profit to a few, it has only accumulated 
what has been speedily dissipated ; and it has in nu- 
merous instances been the ruin of those previously in 
easy or affluent circumstances ; and thus the western 
districts of the island, where it still lingers, and which, 
beyond question, comprise the most fertile portion of 
the country, are less populous and less improved than 
the middle and eastern. 

As the timber trade declined, ship building increased. 
This has proved a more profitable source of produc- 
tion, and furnished a valuable export to Great Britain. 
The reason of the dissimilarity of these pursuits is ob- 
vious. The timber was felled or manufactured by 
farmers, who not only neglected _ a better pursuit 
during the months of winter in which they generally 
worked, but who were often called upon to complete 
their contracts or perform some incidental labor dur- 
ing seed time or harvest, to their irreparable loss. 
Ships are built by a class of men, who, except in rare 
instances follow no other occupation; and thus the 
principle of just division of labor, not being violated, 
both the farmer and the ship builder acquire the legi- 
timate profits of their distinct avocations, while their 
combined labors contribute to the general welfare of 
the colony. 



COMMERCE. 51 

The exceptions to this due distribution of labor, for 
the most part occur among the earlier settlers, espe- 
cially the Acadians, who acquired the art of ship 
building and the taste together, during the period that 
system was " out of joint" in Europe, and men's 
minds were more set upon " cutting foreign throats " 
than in seeking out the best channels for the exertion 
of steady industry. The farmers, if such they may be 
called, at that time, built many small vessels and sold 
them, usually, in Newfoundland, at apparently large 
profits. But many better ship builders are now esta- 
blished at various parts of the island, and a number of 
ships from one hundred and fifty to five hundred tons, 
and some still larger, have been at different times 
constructed and sold in England, or employed in the 
trade of the colony. 

Corn has also been exported to England, but in no 
great quantity ; and if it has not been a source of 
profit, this has doubtless been owing more to bad 
management than to any other cause ; for a sample 
fetched, on one occasion, the highest price at Mark 
Lane. But as the population of the island increases, 
it will be necessary to export more produce than will 
balance the wants of the settlers in the productions of 
the West India islands ; and they will do well, by the 
strictest regulations, to insure the shipment of corn 
to this country, of a quality to command remunerating 
prices. 

Pot-ash ought long ago to have been exported to 
England. It was at one time, though it is not now so 
d2 



52 COMMERCE. 

much in demand as formerly, the most valuable export 
from Canada, and the staple of its production, the 
beech tree, is super-abundant in the island. 

The returns from Great Britain, are made in manu- 
factured articles of every description, with salt, tea, 
wine, iron, and all such other necessaries and luxuries 
as a new country does not produce. 

The exports to Newfoundland, have usually been 
more profitable than those to Great Britain. They 
have chiefly consisted of boards sawn at water mills 
in the island, shingles, which are (if the expression 
may be allowed) a kind of wooden slates, the best of 
which, are made of white cedar, and staves, spars, 
beef, pork, oats, hay, and many vessels for the 
grand fisheries of that island. The returns from New- 
foundland have been usually made in West India 
produce. 

The exports to the West Indies, have been much 
the same as those to Newfoundland, with the addition 
of dryed cod-fish and salted herrings, and alewives or 
gasperaux ; and the returns have commonly been, in 
rum, sugar, and molasses. This trade has not been 
long open, but is greatly on the increase. 

The intercourse with Miramichi and Halifax, has 
been extremely valuable, and might be made much 
more so, did the island merchants take care to keep 
the balance of trade in their favor. 

There was once a considerable export of furs from 
the island ; but as this branch of trade must decrease 
as population increases, it is not worthy of particular 



COMMERCE. 53 

notice in this brief review of such interests only, as 
nearly concern those who may contemplate residing in 
the colony. 

But the two grand branches of prospective com- 
merce are as yet in their infancy : the cod fisheries, 
and the export trade in corn. They await the further 
ingress of British capital and enterprise. But as the 
country is every day becoming better known, and the 
emigration and establishment of settlers with the 
means of turning the soil of the island and its rich 
fisheries to profitable account is yearly increasing, 
labor and capital, in due proportions, will ere long, 
call forth the natural capabilities of the country, to 
the advantage of every interest connected with its 
welfare. 



d3 



CHAPTER VITI. 



INHABITANTS — RELIGIOUS SECTS — EDUCATION. 

After the topographical outline at the beginning of 
this sketch, and what has been said of the trade and 
agriculture of the island, it is necessary to say but 
little concerning the origin, character, and proper 
avocations of its inhabitants. The settlers are chiefly 
English and Scotch, with an inconsiderable number of 
Irish, and American loyalists ; and there are four set- 
tlements of Acadian French, which probably do not 
together contain above four thousand souls. 

A remnant of the native Americans still inhabit the 
island, and may amount to between fifty and sixty 
families in all. Their chief settlement is upon Lenox 
or Indian Island, in Richmond Bay. Here they have 
a Catholic chapel, near which their chief usually re- 
sides. They are of the Micmac tribe which was 
formerly conquered by the Mohawks. They inherit 



RELIGIOUS SECTS. 55 

less of the energy, but not less of the independent spirit, 
of their ancestors, than the Indians of the tribes better 
known in Canada. All that need be here added con- 
cerning them is, that they form no obstacle to the pro- 
gress of the settlers, before the effects of whose in- 
dustry, they are perceptibly dwindling away ; for not- 
withstanding their conversion to Christianity, and the 
penury of sustenance which they sometimes endure, 
they cannot be induced to cultivate the ground ; and 
as the settlements increase, their means of subsistence 
must of course diminish. They understand but little 
of the nature of religion, and are supposed to be re- 
strained from those excesses into which, the want 
which they suffer would drive any other people, more 
by their native pride, than by the influence of Christian 
precepts. 

The churches or religious sects w T hich predominate 
among the English and the descendants of English, 
are, the Church of England and the Methodists ; and 
those which are ascendant among the natives or the 
descendants of the natives of Scotland, not including 
all the Highlanders, are, the Presbyterians and Seceders. 
Some of the Highlanders, the Irish, and the Acadian 
French, profess the Romish faith. But to the credit of 
the settlers in general, it may be added, that great good- 
will subsists between those of the most adverse creeds. 
The clergy, generally, are estimable and enlightened 
men, and w T ell disposed to encourage those feelings, 
which all who profess Christianity are bound to en- 
tertain. In fact, there is no such thing as a religious 



56 EDUCATION. 

party among the settlers; and a moral man, or in 
other words, a Christian in practice, is never asked to 
what church or sect he belongs, as though the forms 
by which he should offer up his devotions could make 
him a better or worse citizen, or more honest or dis- 
honest man. Such at least is the feeling and the prac- 
tice of a large majority of the people of Prince Ed- 
ward Island.* 



* The sight of two teachers of Christianity, who give 
opposite or different readings to passages of scripture upon 
which we found the most seemingly important religious 
doctrines and principles, inspires some such feelings as 
struck the able chronicler of the sayings of the literary 
Goliah of the last age, when he first saw the two eminent 
politicians in the extremes of party, Mr.Wilks, and the giant 
critic his great idol, tete-d-tete in discourse. It presented 
to his mind, the happy days foretold in scripture, when the 
lion shall lie down with the kid. There is surely no true re- 
ligion without respect for the opinion of just men, however 
opposite their sentiments, m apparently the most material 
points. At least, we find this emphatically enjoined by the 
greatest of the apostles, however men may read, who love 
to excite and exercise their passions, instead of employing 
their nobler reason, in the examination of the sacred text, 
and in the practice of their religious forms and addresses 
to the Father of all. " Above all these things," says 
saint Paul, "put on Charity, which is the bond of per- 
fectness." Col. iii. 14. 



EDUCATION. 57 

The education of youth, is a prime object of legis- 
lative care ; and the scholastic institutions of the 
country are upon the most respectable footing. There 
is a national college at Charlotte Town ; and there are 
minor establishments in the county towns, and in 
almost every district. 



d4 



CHAPTER IX. 



GOVERNMENT — LAWS AND COURTS OF LAW. 

The constitution, and the institutions of government, 
in Prince Edward Island, do not essentially differ from 
those we enjoy at home. The constitution is formed 
upon the model of that of the mother country, all 
power being vested, in a governor, council, and house 
of assembly. The governor represents the sovereign 
of Great Britain, the council, the members of which 
are individually styled honorable, represents the House 
of Lords of the Imperial Parliament, and the house of 
assembly, stands in the place of the British House of 
Commons. The members of the council are usually 
nominated by the governor, and appointed by the 
mandamus of the sovereign ; and the members of the 
House of Assembly, are elected after the same forms 
as the members of the British House of Commons. 
The council sit also in an executive capacity. They 
then represent the privy council, at home, and act as 
advisers of the governor, who cannot exercise the 



LAWS. 59 

more material functions of government, without their 
advice and consent. 

The laws of England, which existed before the 
colony possessed a representative constitution, are at 
present in force ; hut such acts as now pass through 
the British Parliament, do not extend to the colony, 
unless so intended and so expressed. The laws of the 
parent state, are explained or modified by the island 
legislature, as the circumstances of the country re- 
quire ; and this is especially necessary in the penal 
code ; for crime, so often the offspring of want, is 
more rare in the island than at home, and does not 
need the same examples of severity that may be ne- 
cessary in a populous country. The whole poor 
law code, also, would be inapplicable to a country 
which has not, nor cannot have, any poor, except the 
aged and sick ; and it must be but in rare instances, 
that these have no relations upon whom they have 
stronger claims than upon the public. 

Besides the statute law*, and common law of England, 
the colonists have a statute book of their own, to 
which every session of the legislature materially adds. 
All laws, however, respecting real property, require 
the assent of the sovereign — a wholesome precaution 
against the consequences of the inexperience of the 
members of the Colonial Parliament, which is some- 
times apparent in their legislative proceedings. 

The administration of justice, and the procedure 
and forms of the courts of law T , are the same as those 
of England. The governor is chancellor, and the chief 



60 COURTS OF LAW. 

justice presides over the supreme court, which in- 
cludes all the courts of common law at home. The 
chief justice, and the attorney-general, are appointed 
by the sovereign, but the high sheriff is appointed by 
the governor. Barristers, and Solicitors and Attor- 
neys, are not distinct as in this country, and once 
admitted, they practise, and in all the courts. 

There are also county courts, and justices of the 
peace throughout the island. The latter take cogni- 
zance of small debts, and have the same duties to per- 
form as the magistrates in England. 



CHAPTER X. 



AGRICULTURIST EMIGRANTS PRICE OF LAND AND TERMS 

AND CONDITIONS OF LEASING PROSPECTS OF NEW- 
SETTLERS. 

The reader is perhaps now in possession of sufficient 
information concerning Prince Edward Island and the 
condition of its inhabitants, to enable him to judge of 
the prospects generally which that colony holds out 
to industrious individuals of limited capital; I shall 
therefore proceed to such observations as may seem 
best calculated to assist him in applying the informa- 
tion he has acquired to his own particular objects of 
enterprise, supposing them to relate to the cultivation 
of the soil, to trade, or to the exercise of his genius in 
the mechanical arts. 

Of all those who emigrate, the agriculturist will ex- 
perience the greatest change, and in the majority of 
instances the most solid benefit. Yet it is certain that 
more emigrants of this class return, than of any other. 
But the reason of this is, that more agriculturists than 
persons of any other class engage in the undertak- 



62 AGRICULTURISTS. 

ing, without previously acquainting themselves with 
the true condition of the country to which they em- 
bark ; and some, as they muse o'er their lonely track, 
dream of landing in a country so totally different from 
that which they find on their arrival, that they at once 
get dispirited, and if they are able, return. The sight of 
a tall forest, encircling sometimes a single farm, and 
the stumps of the trees up to the doors of the ill-con- 
structed dwellings of many of the settlers, who seem 
to know no more of the theory or practice of agricul- 
ture than of architecture, quite disheartens them. In 
some cases, the English farmer goes alone ; and lands, 
perhaps, where the settlers are from a different part of 
the United Kingdom, and probably speak a different 
dialect ; or they may be of foreign extraction, and of a 
different religious sect; and although he is not an 
alien in their eyes, they to him are as strangers. But 
all this, arises in a great measure, from the want of a 
better system of emigration. These distinctions, will, 
however, in effect vanish, if he remains till he dis- 
covers, that they neither separate him from the great 
British family of which he was born and bred a mem- 
ber, nor deprive him of the substantial blessings of 
our free institutions, nor of the prospects of the profit- 
able application of his capital and industry. He will 
not have landed among a people with whom he has no 
common interest and feelings. Nevertheless, if this 
situation is so disheartening as to cause some to aban- 
don their objects, it is an evil that all should attempt 
to avoid ; and the best means of doing this, is to go — 



TERMS OF PURCHASE. 63 

not alone — but in company. Let several associate 
and unite their interests and efforts, or at least embark 
together and take up their residence in the same 
settlement.* 

And now, if the agriculturist reader will lend his at- 
tention for a moment, we will suppose his situation, as 
an emigrant in the prime of life, with a small capital : 
and let us see what prospect there may be of his turn- 
ing this to profitable account in Prince Edward Island. 
You may then compare the condition in which it may 
there place you, with that which your utmost expecta- 
tions and the favors of fortune might realize at home. 

We will suppose that you arrive at Charlotte Town 
early in the season. Here you will find the agents of 
the greater part of the proprietors, a list of whose 
names are appended to this account of the colony. 
You will now be able to inspect such lands as are 
for sale, make the necessary inquiries, select your 
allotment, and make your purchase judiciously. The 
price of land, you will find vary from five shillings to 
twenty shillings per acre. This difference arises more 
from difference of situation, than from any so great 
disparity in the quality of the arable lands of the island. 

The terms and conditions upon which you will be 
able to purchase are as follows : — 

You will be put in possession of the land for which 
you agree, upon paying one quarter part of the pur- 
chase-money, and coming under an agreement to pay 

* More practical hints on this subject may be found in 
the Emigrant's Introduction, page 277. 



64 LEASING. 

the annual interest of five per cent for the remainder, 
until the total amount be paid off. Upon payment of 
one half the sum agreed upon, you will be entitled to 
a deed in fee simple. The remaining half of your 
purchase-money must be paid in five equal instal- 
ments ; and in case of the failure of payment, the land- 
lord, by the terms of the agreement will have a right 
to sell your lot, satisfy his demand, returning you 
what balance may remain in his hands. 

If you should prefer leasing, or be under the ne- 
cessity so to do, you may take a lease on the following 
terms, with the right to purchase at any time during 
the continuance of the term. The term will be : — for 
sixty-one years certain, or the longest of three lives, 
or, for ninety-nine years upon a scale of rent as 
follows : — 

First and second year No rent. 

Third year 3 per acre. 

Fourth year 6 ditto. 

Fifth year 9 ditto. 

Sixth year 10 ditto. 

To continue for the remainder of the term at one 
shilling per acre, unless purchased according to the 
above terms. 

The rents may be paid either in money, or the pro- 
duce of the land at the market price ; or in labor, when 
convenient to both landlord and tenant. 

In order to facilitate the calculation concerning the 
results of good management, we will suppose that you 



FIRST OPERATIONS. 65 

have a capital of £400 and that you prefer purchasing 
to leasing ; and having chosen a favorable situation, 
give the highest price stated in the above scale, with 
ten pounds for your log-house habitation. You are 
now then the proprietor of a hundred acres of land, 
fertile indeed, but which, without labor quite apart 
from that of ordinary tillage, would remain, for agri- 
cultural purposes eternally unproductive. 

Your first object will be, to remove the timber 
that obstructs cultivation. In order to facilitate this, 
you are strongly recommended to carry out a farm 
servant, if you can obtain one for six months at forty 
shillings a month with lodgings and provisions, or 
thirty shillings a month for the year. The price you 
will otherwise pay in the country will be about seventy 
shillings an acre, for cutting down, chopping up, and 
burning and fencing ; and we will in this calculation 
allow this to be your outlay, and suppose that you 
have in other respects managed judiciously ; and that 
you have ten acres prepared for seed at the expense 
of £40 ; and to simplify the estimate, we will con- 
sider the whole to be sown with wheat, and grass 
and clover to succeed. In spite of perhaps a fifth of 
the ground to be deducted on account of the stumps 
standing, this will yield about sixteen bushels an 
acre, which being valued at the fair average price of 
four shillings and sixpence a bushel amounts to £36. 
Thus, your very first crop will return you the proper 
expense of clearing the land. The expenses of putting 



66 OUTLAY. 

in the seed and gathering in the harvest we do not at 
present take into account. 

It is especially necessary to let the first year's clear- 
ance bear one, two, or even three crops of hay before 
it is again broken up, as the want of fodder for stock 
is more felt than any other inconvenience, upon com- 
mencing in the woods. 

But not to go into the most minute calculations, 
we may perhaps state the agriculturist's whole outlay 
and his returns, and improved solid possession, two 
years, after his arrival, provided he be industrious 
during the first winter, for there is less danger of the 
second, somewhat as follows : 

ORIGINAL PURCHASE-MONEY AND OUTLAY FOR 
TWO YEARS. 

Purchase-money 100 acres land £100 

Clearing 30 acres at £4 120 

Two years provision for a small family and servant 50 

Tools 5 

Seeds 10 

One horse 12 

One pair bullocks 16 

Two cows 12 

Twelve sheep 9 

Swine 5 

House 10 

Barn and byre 8 

Total outlay £357 



PROFITS. 67 

VALUE OF PROPERTY AFTER TWO YEARS, AND 
RECEIPTS DURING THAT PERIOD. 

Seventy acres in wood £ 70 

Thirty ditto cleared land, valued at 10s. per acre less 

than clearing and first cost together 141 

First year's crop 36 

Second ditto wheat off 20 acres 72 

Trinothy and cow-grass off 10 acres, 20 tons at £2. . 40 

Original stock 54 

Manure 10 

Tools 5 

House 10 

Burn and byre 8 

£446 
Original purchase-money and total outlay .... 357 

Increased value of the estate 89 

Such calculations, are however, it must be confessed, 
no more than a general guide to an average result. 
Things are omitted on both sides, and others perhaps 
differ very much from what will in individual cases be 
the results of experiment. How uncertain, for in- 
stance, must be any calculation of the expenses of a 
family for two years. The number of which it is com- 
posed is not so material as the regard or disregard 
paid to economy. Some will very prudently lay in 
their winter's stock of provisions before prices aug- 
ment, while others Avill not only neglect this, but re- 
ject the ordinary provisions of a new settlement; and 
some must have luxuries that no calculation could esti- 
mate correctly. These matters must therefore rest 
upon the emigrant himself. It is enough, that he 



68 RESULTS. 

here sees what he may accomplish by prudence and 
activity, with the above capital, in the two first and 
most trying years he may expect to encounter in esta- 
blishing his fortunes in the new world. 

If the above calculation comes any thing near the 
truth, the farmer, after two years, is about one fourth 
richer than when he left home : but what is more than 
this, he has overcome all the real difficulties of a new 
country, and is in a fair way of much more rapidly im- 
proving his property. Moreover, he has a sum in 
hand to dispose of, as experience, which is " better 
than precious stones," and " richer than gold," may 
point out as the most advantageous for the future wel- 
fare of his increasing family. 

Should you indeed, instead of the above sum, be 
able to carry with you twice or three times that 
amount, you may advantageously employ a part of it 
in the purchase of wild lands upon speculation ; but 
this is by no means recommended to the smaller capi- 
talists, nor indeed to any, before they have acquired 
some experience and settled themselves for life. 

Many persons emigrate with the determination of 
becoming agriculturists, who have not been accus- 
tomed to labor, and have no experience in farming. 
Their want of experience will not in such case be of 
the disadvantage they may at first dread, but their want 
of the habit of manual labor will materially affect their 
success upon a new farm. All such persons therefore, 
should they be able, I am disposed to recommend, to 
purchase a hundred acres of land with some improve- 



SOCIETY. G9 

merit upon it. This may be almost always accom- 
plished, as many of the older settlers prefer new land, 
and are ready to sell their improvements at a much 
less price than land as well improved, without the use 
of your own hands, will cost you. A very good farm 
with thirty acres cleared, and a house with two apart- 
ments, may sometimes be purchased for 150 or £200, 
according to the condition in which it may be at 
the time. Thus much for the prospects of the agricul- 
turists, and of such as contemplate engaging in that 
generous occupation. 

The country is well adapted for the retreat of per- 
sons of small income and increasing family. Several 
independent gentlemen, well acquainted with society 
in its more advanced stages, have lately taken up their 
abode in the island, and made their knowledge useful 
in effecting improvement in its existing institutions. 
Any remarks concerning the change of condition 
which emigrants of this class will experience, do not 
properly belong to the present inquiry ; but it may be 
observed in passing, that all, or the greater part, of 
the necessaries of life, are cheaper in the island than 
in England ; and that, there are no direct taxes for 
the support of government, nor taxes of any kind, ex- 
cept some trifling imposts, too inconsiderable to be 
taken into any, except the most minute, calculations. 

At Charlotte Town, the seat of the government, and 
the' residence of the greater part of the settlers of in- 
dependent incomes, the society is superior to that 
which we usually meet with in towns in Great Britain 



70 TRADESMEN. 

of six times the population of the Capital of the 
Island. 

It is not necessary to enter into minute estimates of 
the prospective profits of the various branches of busi- 
ness which are open to the tradesman who may carry 
out a limited capital with the intention of following 
his former pursuits. The difference of his situation, 
and that of the agriculturist, is obvious. The agri- 
culturist, enters upon, at least if he purchase new land, 
an entirely new system, to effect ultimately the results 
of his former occupations ; whereas, the tradesman or 
storekeeper, changes but the scene of his exertions, 
and perhaps the articles in which he has been accus- 
tomed to deal ; or he deals in a more general assort- 
ment. The most material variation in his mode of 
transacting business, will arise from the necessity of 
taking, to a certain extent, his payments in the pro- 
duce of the soil instead of money, owing to the present 
scarcity of the circulating medium, for reasons already 
assigned. This, however, is not attended with the 
inconvenience that might at first appear, as he may 
either export it himself, or dispose of it to those en- 
gaged in the inter-colonial commerce before mentioned. 

Many storekeepers have been very successful in 
Charlotte Town ; but none should make arrangements 
for establishing themselves in business there, before 
they have visited the country. They should first 
ascertain the exact nature and extent of the trade of 
the island; and they may then with more confidence 



SHIP-BUILDING. 71 

order their merchandize from this country, and enter 
with less risk into their new speculations. 

As to persons who may contemplate engaging in 
ship-building, they are strongly recommended not to 
calculate upon being able to embark advantageously 
in that branch of business, unless they have previously 
made some engagement with the agents of one of the 
resident merchants, or one of the proprietors of land, 
residing in England. It has not, hitherto, been a 
very profitable employment to individuals engaged in 
it ; although it has, as before stated, produced a valu- 
able article of export from the colony ; but it is to be 
hoped that it will ere long be attended with more 
advantage to all who embark in it. None of the other 
mechanic arts, seem at present to afford certain and 
constant employment for any considerable capital, 
although Charlotte Town and some of the settlements 
offer very fair prospects to joiners, masons, sadlers, 
brick-makers, and tanners : and they are not over- 
stocked with wheelwrights, blacksmiths, shoemakers, 
tailors ; nor indeed, with artisans of any kind who find 
employment in our English towns. 

The other branch of business which holds out ex- 
pectations for the successful employment of capital, is, 
the hitherto neglected fisheries. The fisheries are by 
their nature unlimited. They supply an article of 
food for which the world is a market ; and wherever 
established, they stimulate rural industry, or favor the 
manufacturing interests. Unlike the frequent results of 



72 FISHERIES. 

speculations in the productions of art, increasing supply, 
here begets only emulation, not destructive competition. 

Cod is so plentiful upon the coast at some seasons, 
that they may be caught at the very harbours' mouths 
in great quantities, in, from four to six fathoms of 
water. This occurs in the spring, at which season, 
they may be taken in seines, sometimes even within 
the harbours. At other seasons, when they leave the 
immediate vicinity of the harbours, they are to be 
taken in equal quantities, in much shallower water 
than that in which they are found on the banks and 
coasts of Newfoundland. Towards autumn, they ap- 
proach the shores again ; and it is worthy of remark, 
that the fishing craft upon these coasts, may keep the 
sea longer than vessels of the same burden are able 
to do upon the coast of Newfoundland, by reason of 
the gulf affording more shelter during the stormy 
weather at this season, than the open Atlantic, which 
washes the shores of Newfoundland. 

The island is indisputably the best fishing station in 
the seas of North America ; and the harbours on the 
north side, are the most conveniently situated for the 
successful prosecution of this lucrative and important 
pursuit. The only reasons that can be given for the 
neglect of so obvious an advantage, are, the want of 
capital among those interested in the welfare of the 
colony, and the accidental ignorance of capitalists esta- 
blished in the other provinces, of the advantages the 
shores of this Island possess. But so much capital is 



FISHERIES. 73 

now engaged in developing the best natural resources 
of the colony, and in its general improvement, that 
this rich mine of wealth will be no longer neglected. 

But since so little has been hitherto done, no exact 
idea can be given to the British fisherman, of the 
modes of securing his profits which he will have to 
adopt. The principle upon which the connection be- 
tween the operator and the capitalist has been hitherto 
generally managed, is such as obviates the necessity 
of wages. The capitalist supplies the boats and outfit, 
and receives a share of green or uncured fish, in cer- 
tain proportions depending upon the condition and 
size of the boat and the proportionate number of hands 
which she may happen to carry. 

This is an equitable method of dealing, and the 
only one that wull succeed in the country at present. 
And as the staple of this valuable branch of commerce 
is in abundance, the capitalist need not fear the ab- 
sence of the fisherman, nor the fisherman the want of 
the capitalist's necessary assistance. 

The larger capitalist, needs no information that 
could be comprised within the limits of this sketch ; 
but as the fisheries of the island, are calculated to be- 
come the source of a branch of commerce, not open 
to the larger capitalists only, but which will always 
afford profitable employment, under good management, 
to a limited capital, I shall venture to give a single 
hint, some attention to which, may possibly remove 
the chief obstacle that might frustrate the smaller 
capitalist's endeavours ; and as 1 know of no other 
E 



74 FISHERIES. 

impediment, his success would seem to depend upon 
the removal of this single apparent objection. 

The life of a fisherman, as is well known, is not so 
luxurious as that of a farmer ; and, as fishermen in 
Prince Edward Island, will spend much of their time 
among the farmers during the winter, there is danger 
of their changing their proper pursuit, to follow the 
cultivation of the land. That this inconvenience may 
be easily overcome by the larger capitalist, cannot be 
doubted. He has more command over his men, and 
the means of speedily replacing them. I should say, 
however, that no one ought to engage in this specula- 
tion, unless his capital be large, without making such 
arrangements at home, as to insure his being able to 
recruit his numbers, lost by desertion, or increase 
them as his business may enlarge. How the pro- 
visions to effect this should be made, must depend in 
a great measure upon the customs of the part of the 
kingdom from which the fishermen are obtained. It 
is obvious, that the system of indenture is not appli- 
cable to the method of conducting the fisheries of the 
Island ; and this method, as has been said, seems to be 
the only one, that in the present state of the country, it 
would be advisable to adopt. "With the knowledge of 
this assumed obstacle to his success, the capitalist 
may be able to make better arrangements, than one 
not practically acquainted with the details of the 
business either at home or abroad, could suggest. 

Herrings are taken in incredible quantities in so 
short an interval, that the farmers themselves may 



FISHERIES. 75 

engage in catching them, with advantage, especially 
at Cascumpec, where they come ten days earlier than 
at any other harbour, though they are not here so 
certain or so plentiful as at Richmond or Malpec Bay. 
They usually spawn in the harbours on the north side 
of the Island at the time the frost is breaking up the 
ground, and before a plough can be employed; so that, 
no season could be more favorable for taking them. 
At this time, all who keep boats, rush to the fishing 
ground, which is always within the harbour ; and a 
boat with three hands, carrying thirty or forty barrels, 
may be sometimes loaded four or five times during the 
twenty-four hours. Two or three parties accustomed 
to the fisheries of the North of Britain might, by 
uniting their capital, establish themselves, and carry 
on the herring fishery with great advantage, either at 
Richmond Bay or Cascumpec. 

The alewives or gasperaux, before mentioned as 
frequenting the ponds of Tignish and Miminegish, 
are, for home consumption inferior to the herrings ; 
but they are superior for the West India Market, as 
being less expensive to cure, and, from being a leaner 
fish, less liable to spoil on the voyage. 

Although these pages are especially addressed to 
one class of future inquirers concerning the prospects 
which this colony offers, I would not lose the oppor- 
tunity of making a few observations respecting the 
views of the more numerous class of working-men 
adapted to succeed in the country. Their interests are 
closely connected with the interests of those who are 
E2 



76 WORKING MEN. 

most likely to read these remarks ; and the present, 
may be a favorable opportunity of communicating to 
many uninstructed but worthy working-men, such in- 
formation as may assist their endeavours to reach a 
colony, where they would benefit more by the change, 
than persons of any other class whatsoever, who at 
any time emigrate. 

Of their prospects it may be said, that their is no 
probability of their encountering any thing like real 
distress, provided they are industrious. The wages of 
working-men in the trades and arts above mentioned, 
are higher than in England, while almost every ne- 
cessary of humble life is considerably cheaper. The 
following is a list of a few articles, with the ordinary 
prices in the Charlotte Town market. Beef 2d. to 4c/.; 
Mutton 2fd to Ad. ; Yeal 3d. to 5c/. ; Pork 2±d. to 5c/. ; 
Turkeys, 2s. 6d. ; Geese, 2s. ; Ducks, 6c/. to Is. 3c/. 
each ; Fowls 6c/. to 9d. ; Butter 9c/. to Is.; Cheese, 6c/. 
to Is. ; Partridges, 6c/ ; A Cod Fish of 121bs. 6c/. ; Flour, 
2d. to 3d. per lb. ; Potatoes, 10c/. to Is. per bushel ; 
Bum, 3s. to 5s. Qd. ; Tea, 4s. 6d. to 5s. 6d. ; Sugar, 
4c/. to 8d. 

But the demand for labor, by the nature of mechanic 
employments and commerce, is more limited in these 
departments of industry, than in the cultivation of the 
ground; and a working artisan, may possibly want 
employment for some time. It is not therefore recom- 
mended to any such inquirer, to embark for the pur- 
pose of following his accustomed employment, without 
some provision for immediate necessity, or some pre- 



WORKING MEN. 77 

vious engagement. But should any one, having no 
family, proceed without taking this precaution, he 
may yet find other occupation, especially if he should 
know any thing of farming, or be able to use the axe 
in felling trees, the chief requisite to effect which, is 
muscular strength. In this case, he may maintain 
himself until he is able to obtain employment in his 
own proper vocation. Should any one with a family, 
however, incautiously emigrate without an engage- 
ment, he may not find arrangements of this temporary 
kind so easy to make, at least, unless he should be at 
some distance from the capital, where every species of 
assistance and variety of labor connected with a new 
farm is more in demand, and usually to be obtained, 
with at any rate, sufficient remuneration to keep a 
working artisan with a family, until he is able to en- 
gage in his original business. 

Farm servants will experience less difficulty ; and 
at whatever part of the island they may land, few in- 
stances will occur, where they will not be able to ob- 
tain immediate employment, whether with or without 
family ; and this, without making account of the assis- 
tance or facilities sometimes afforded by the proprie- 
tors of the soil, to the poorer classes, bringing written 
characters with them, or being known to emigrants 
already settled. All therefore, who emigrate to the 
Island, without capital, will find their advantage in 
landing in one of the outports in preference to Char- 
lotte Town. 

The wages of laborers, is from £2 10*. to £3 10*. , 

E 3 



78 WORKING MEN. 

being provided with board and lodgings, which is 
customary in the country parts, where wages are 
rarely paid by the day. But in Charlotte Town, 
where daily wages are more common, the working 
man may generally get from 3s. 6rf. to 4s. 6d. a day, 
finding his own board and lodging. 

Every emigrant will meet a welcome wherever he 
{nay land ; and the poor man, if he be industrious, will 
xperience the assistance of the older settlers, in his 
efforts to establish himself with a view to his future 
independence. And this great end and object of all 
labor, a provident man, with a family, especially if 
he have two or three sons, who will be treasures 
more valuable to him than gold, will in many cases 
be able to effect, the summer succeeding that in which 
he may have emigrated. He will sometimes have 
leisure during the winter months to work at clearing 
his own land, if it be near that of the settler with 
whom he may be engaged ; and by that means, get a 
crop in upon his own farm, sometimes before he has 
been fifteen months in the country. 

The capitalist, and any other who should happen to 
peruse these pages, may safely answer the interroga- 
tions of persons of the poorer classes, by acquainting 
them with the remarks herein contained: and they 
ought to afford them, all such other full information 
as they themselves may be able to acquire. Moreover, 
it should be the business of the more intelligent emi- 
grants, to protect the credulous among the uninstructed 
classes, from the interested attempts made to induce 



WORKING MEN. 79 

them to choose one of the foreign republican states to 
settle in, in preference to the British Provinces, which 
offer much surer rewards for industry and good conduct. 
There is generally a superabundance of laborers in the 
larger towns of the United States ; and in the western 
settlements, where only, a poor man can obtain such 
land as he may get in every district in the provinces, 
the people are too coarse in their manners, and too 
subtle and sharp, to assimulate with, or give a fair 
chance of success to, settlers from among the plain 
honest peasantry of this country.* 

* English laborers are apt to be deceived in their esti- 
mate of wages given in the United States, by the difference 
of the British and United States money. The method of 
reckoning in the United States, is by dollars and cents. The 
cent is a copper coin of nearly the same value as an English 
half-penny, and there is a silver coin of the value of 12§ 
cents or 5 of a dollar, which in some parts is called a shilling. 
Thus, if you hear of 8s. a day wages in the United States, 
you are not to suppose you will get 8 twelve-pences, but 
8 pieces of the value of about 65, which is about the average 
wages of the colonies. And this is all you will get in a 
country heavily taxed, and where most articles are, of course, 
much dearer than in the British colonies. If you choose in- 
deed to engage in canal making, through unhealthy swamps, 
where the banks of the canals, as far as they go, are strewed 
with the graves of the Irish, you may get higher wages. But 
should you be among the few who survive the hardships 
those who engage in this labor for want of the means or 
capacity of discovering the difference between a slave and a 
free man, you will be fortunate. If temporary gain entices 
you to the United States, you will be a mere slave : if full 
inquiry induces you, as it most probably will, to emigrate to 
a British province, you will be free and respected, and may 
soon be independent. 



80 DOMESTIC SERVANTS. 

The greater part of the laborers who go to the 
United States, remain in their former condition -of 
life, foi many years, or for the remainder of their days. 
AVhereas, in Prince Edward Island, it is a rare thing 
to find a man dependent upon daily wages for his sup- 
port, after the third or fourth year of his sojourn in 
the country. This must not, however, be supposed 
to apply to domestic servants, either men or women ; 
but persons of this class, are not recommended to emi- 
grate without a previous engagement. Women servants 
are more in demand than men servants. Young women 
should go out under unexceptionable protection ; and 
every mistress who takes a girl of a marriageable age, 
should take another a little younger to supply her 
place within a twelve month, if necessary ; which will 
be much less barbarous than binding a young -woman 
to unnatural and unnecessary celibacy. " Vows to every 
purpose must not hold," and wicked resolutions and 
thoughtless promises made in England are " polluted 
offerings," and will hardly be regarded in the colonies. 

I cannot omit the mention of another strong reason 
or two against emigration to the United States. It 
may assist the intelligent reader, in affording his best 
advice to uninstructed persons contemplating emigra- 
tion. The first I shall mention, is partly a matter of 
feeling, and partly a matter which turns upon the 
choice of honor or dishonor ; the second is altogether 
a matter of interest. 

And first, I would impress upon the attention of 
every British subject, the inconveniences he may ex- 



UNITED STATES. 81 

perience from alienating himself from the country of 
his birth ; and this he must do, before he can become 
a citizen of the United States. He must foreswear his 
country, and make oath, that he will take up arms 
against Great Britain in case of war. After which, he 
must be content to wait seven years before he will be 
entrusted with a vote ; and before that time, the proba- 
bility is, that he will be tired of the States, and, like the 
majority of his countrymen withdrawn from the pro- 
tection of their national flag, be quietly settled in one of 
the provinces, and, happily, once more under the pro- 
tection of the laws he has "been accustomed to venerate 
from principle as well as from grateful associations ; 
and where he will, as soon as he shall become a forty 
shilling freeholder or leaseholder, have the right of 
voting for a representative in the colonial parliament. 
But if there be any who look upon nationality as 
nothing, an argument of another kind, may touch 
them more nearly. The people of the United States, 
are taxed nearly twenty times higher than the British 
colonists. They pay to the general government, duties 
upon importations, of, from 25 to 50 per cent; and 
wherever you settle you will have the direct taxes of 
the particular state government to pay also. Whereas, 
in the British Provinces, generally, there is only an 
ad valorem duty upon importations, of 2f per cent 
without any direct taxes whatsoever. This is an ex- 
press and unambiguous argument, which ought of 
itself, in every case, to deter the unwary from entertain- 
ing the intention of settling in the United States. 
e4 



CHAPTER XI. 



EMIGRATION — HINTS ON ARRANGEMENT FOR EMBARKATION 
AND CAUTIONS. 

As this is not an essay on emigration, but rather a 
guide to such persons as are supposed to be best 
adapted to the condition of Prince Edward Island, as 
well on account of their own interests as of the general 
interests of the colony, it would be to travel out of the 
bounds which the design comprehends, and it would 
occupy more pages than the prescribed limits allow, 
to enter into arguments, for or against emigration. 
Should any reader, however, receive his first impres- 
sions of the subject from these pages, I am disposed 
to recommend him to go back to the elementary 
treatise referred to in the preface ; and let him not 
forget, that both interest and feeling should be con- 
sulted before he determines to emigrate ; but having 
so determined, should his views and his means of 
carrying them into effect, be such as are here supposed 
to peculiarly adapt him to settle in Prince Edward 



ARRANGEMENTS TO EMBARK. 83 

Island, the above account of that colony, will I trust 
be found to contain sufficient information to leave a 
just impression of the more important matters which 
concern his future interests : I shall therefore con- 
clude, by a few observations concerning the disposal 
of his moveable as well as personal property, and his 
arrangements for embarkation. 

You are not likely to land very far from the spot on 
which you will utimately settle, as would be the case, 
were you going to Canada or the United States. You 
are therefore recommended, provided you are within a 
moderate distance from the port at which you intend 
to embark, to carry with you all such of your move- 
ables as are not very cumbersome and of little value ; 
and above all, the implements of your profession. 

And while you are packing your furniture, you may 
with much advantage, put up with them, any rare 
seeds, especially of the grass and clover kind, that you 
should find it convenient to procure. Small quantities 
of various kinds of garden seeds it is also desirable to 
take. Such of any kind, as you may not use, you may 
easily exchange for something that will be of more 
use to you. 

The tools and implements most necessary to the 
agriculturist settler during the earlier part of his 
labours, are the following. One or two spades, 
shovels, hoes, and sithes and sickles made strong 
in the back, the iron work of a plough and harrow, 
and if his means will allow it, a chaff-cutter and 
a winnowing machine, and some cart and some 



84 YOUR MONEY. 

plough harness. To these he may add a gig har- 
ness, if he should have one by him, as he will pro- 
bably keep a cariole or sleigh, for which, with a 
little alteration, it will suit very well. But he must 
not forget, that the island horses are smaller than those 
of the middle size in England. Take also two hammers, 
two planes, six gouges, six socket-chisels, six augers 
of different sizes not exceeding one and half inch, two 
dozen grinlets of different sizes, a cross-cut saw, two 
or three pair of door hinges and door latches. 

Every emigrant will do well to carry at least two 
years supply of both light and warm clothing, and 
also warm bedding. All which is not intended to be 
used on the voyage, should be carefully packed in 
wooden chests or trunks, none of which should weigh 
more than a hundred and twelve pounds, and it would 
be better that none exceeded half that weight. 

Before you embark, you should deposit your money 
at the principal bank within your reach, and take an 
acknowledgment, with a letter of credit to draw as 
you may require it ; and for your bills on England 
you will get from 35 to 40 per cent premium. The 
currency of the country is at 10 per cent less value 
than sterling. Thus for a hundred pound bill on Eng- 
land, you will receive a hundred and eleven pounds 
two shillings and two pence half penny, which, with 
the premium will make upward of one hundred and 
fifty pounds currency. You need not carry above a 
few pounds more money with you than is sufficient to 
pay, your expenses to and at the port of embarkation, 



EXPENCES. 85 

and for your passage, of the cost of which, the follow- 
ing is an estimate. 

IN THE CABIN 

For a grown person finding himself in 
provisions, which no one should do . .£10 

Children ditto from 2 to 5 

For a grown person being found in pro- 
visions by the captain . . 15 to 20 

Children ditto 5 to 12 

IN THE STEERAGE. 

Where passengers generally do, and always ought, 
to find their own provisions. 

For a grown person £2 to 3 

Children 1 to 2 

The proper season to begin your inquiries concern- 
ing embarkation, is about the month of February or 
March. This will afford you time to make your ar- 
rangements to suit convenience, or remove any obstacles 
arising from the distance you may have to travel. 
Having made such dispositions concerning your pro- 
perty as above advised, and obtained the date of the 
ship's positive departure, be sure to be punctual ; and 
on your arrival, present yourself to the captain, who 
will accommodate you according to which of the above 
arrangements you may be prepared to make. 

You are now supposed to be on ship-board, I shall, 
therefore, give one or two hints respecting your ma- 
nagement upon the voyage, both with regard to your 
sea-stock, and to your comfort in some other respects. 



86 PROVISIONS, 

You should calculate upon being at least six weeks 
at sea, although the average passage is less than five ; 
and remember, that, the ship, as is the term, finds you 
in nothing, except water, which will every day be 
served out to you in the proportion of five gallons a 
week. This you must make serve for drinking, cook- 
ing, and washing. You can, however, use salt water 
to boil either salt beef, fish, or potatoes ; and you may 
use it for washing, in all cases where soap is not 
necessary. 

But with respect to your provisions, you must regu- 
late the quantity, in proportion to the number you 
happen to be in family, remembering, that children 
are great eaters, especially at sea, and are often very 
wasteful. Let the substantial and chief articles of 
your stock be, salt beef or pork, salt fish, biscuit, and 
potatoes ; and you should take also, some flour or oat- 
meal, some suet corned, a little rice, sago, and arrow- 
root, for puddings, tea, or coffee if you prefer it, and 
can drink it better without milk, sugar, butter, cheese, 
eggs packed in salt or lime, and a few delicacies to be 
at hand in case of illness, such as jam, jelly, prunes, 
spices, and wine or brandy. 

With respect to your cooking, time for meals, your 
berths, and other arrangements respecting family com- 
fort, they will depend so much upon the order kept in 
the ship, that all that need be said is, that you should 
keep as many culinary and table utensils open for use, 
and as much of necessary bedding, as will render you 
quite independent of the ship or your fellow passengers. 



CAUTION. 87 

Cooking is most easily managed, by two or three 
families uniting for their general accommodation. 

And now with respect to the disposal of your time. 
In speaking of providing necessaries, a longer period 
has been mentioned than it is needful to reckon upon 
in reference to pastimes ; I shall therefore advise you 
to calculate upon being about three weeks in want of 
some amusement, without which, the voyage will be 
extremely tedious. The average passage is about a 
month, the first week of which, you will probably be 
sea sick, and too unwell to enjoy any thing but your 
bed, which, the less you keep, however, the better. 
After this, you will enjoy plenty of health, good spirits, 
and leisure ; and a portion of your spare time, you are 
recommended to employ in entertaining reading ; and 
perhaps you will find no books so well adapted for this 
purpose, as the Spectator, some of the monthly peri- 
odicals, and any of the Waverly novels. The Bible, 
it can hardly be supposed you will be without; or, 
that you will be disposed to keep the sabbath less holy 
at sea than on shore. 

There is yet a caution that it may be useful to give 
you. It may concern, not only your comfort at the 
outset, but perhaps during the whole passage : and 
should you think it unnecessary, you may be reminded, 
that it proceeds from observation. It is this : never 
dispute any internal arrangements made by the cap- 
tain for the general accommodation of the passengers ; 
nor interfere in any way with the duty or concerns of 
any officer or seaman on board. And do not attempt 



88 ARRIVAL. 

to engage any of the officers or seamen in conversation, 
however curious you may be concerning what is now 
passing before your eyes, and is novel to your experi- 
ence ; nor say one word more to any one employed in 
the duties of the ship, than is positively upon business, 
until you are at least clear of the land. The want of 
attention to a little propriety on these points has often 
led to disagreement and discomfort throughout the 
passage. But when you have left the land, and the 
wind is fair, and the vessel is dashing through the 
water with the top-gallant-sails and royals flying aloft, 
you will find all hands in good humour, and you will 
then have an opportunity of inquiring into the mys- 
teries of the unfathomed deep, and of suggesting such 
alterations in the regulations below, as circumstances 
may have rendered necessary, and all agree to re- 
commend. 

You may now be supposed to have arrived. You 
are at length then in a country, where, being blessed 
with health, your success and future happiness, will de- 
pend, not partially, but wholly, upon your own industry 
and conduct ; and where, your station in society will be 
determined, not so much by the amount of capital you 
carried with you, as by your character and consequent 
success. You are, moreover, in a country, where want is 
almost unknown, and among a people, not inferior to any 
of us at home, in true British feeling, loyalty, and attach- 
ment to the lawful sovereign of this great empire. 
And, the mere external difference in your daily ex- 
perience — that the forest is around you, and the axe 



CHANGE OF CONDITION. 89 

as much in requisition as the plough — will, as soon as 
the change in your manner of life becomes familiar to 
you, weigh nothing, in comparison with the solid ad- 
vantages you have acquired, in the more profitable 
employment of your capital, and the enlargement of 
every rational enjoyment. 

You perhaps left a farm, for which you paid a high 
rent and heavy taxes, and in the working of which, you 
enjoyed no advantage that you have lost, except that 
of the rate of wages, which you will find higher where 
you now are. But, you must remember, that you now 
pay your men no more than the value of what you re- 
ceive in return. Thus, the want of charges upon the 
land, has enabled you to pay your men better, 
and allowed them to look forward to their own inde- 
pendence ; and the increase of the single item of wages 
in the farmer's expenditure, bears no comparison 
with the advantages you experience in the absence or 
diminution of rent ; to say nothing of taxes, poo?-'s-rates, 
arid tythes, of which there are none in Prince Edward 
Island. 

Until now, you never, perhaps, had the advantage 
of a freehold possession. If you were not a tenant at 
will, you were, perhaps, but a lessee, in which cha- 
racter you could know nothing of the enjoyment of a 
real estate, to which every stroke of the axe, and every 
stump taken up, adds a value that it can never lose. 
And all this you have acquired for a few temporary 
privations, which, summed together, bear no com- 
parison to a year of anxiety, such as the agriculturist 



90 ADVICE. 

lessee of small capital is constantly called upon to en- 
dure at home. 

One word more of advice respecting your future 
comfort will suffice. Carry with you such books as 
may store your mind with all the solid information in 
your power to acquire ; and do not omit to take a good 
history of England, and such books on natural history 
and agriculture, as upon inquiry, you may find the 
most highly recommended. Be solicitous about the 
education, not only of your own children, but also, of 
those of your fellow-settlers. Encourage the poorer 
classes of emigrants that yearly plant themselves 
around you. Show them the progress of your im- 
provements, and exhort them to be industrious, and to 
abstain from habits of intemperance ; for they, what- 
ever may be their present condition, are destined, like 
yourself, to occupy a superior station in society, to that 
which they filled when at home. And thus I bid you 
farewell ; with the sincere and earnest hope, that you 
may enjoy all the prosperity and happiness Prince 
Edward Island promises, and your resolution and per- 
severance may merit, 



THE END. 



APPENDIX. 



List of Several of the Proprietors of Land in Prince 
Edward Island. 



Earl of Selkirk, St. Mary's Isle, Kirkcudbright— Earl of 
Westmorland, London — Marquis of Queensberry, same — 
Viscount Melville, Melville Castle, Edinburghshire — Lord 
James Townsend — Sir George Seymour, Hampton Court — 
Sir James Montgomery and Brothers, Stobo Castle Peeble- 
shire— Sir Edward Walsh, L eland— Sir T. S. Sorell— Lady 
Wood, Prince Edward Island — The Honorable Samuel 
Cunard, Halifax, Nova Scotia — The Honorable Joseph 
Cunard, Miramichi — Lawrence Sulivan, Esq., War Office, 
London — Andrew Colvile, Esq., Fenchurch Buildings, Lon- 
don — The heirs of the late Alderman Winchester, London 
— C. Worrell, Esq., Prince Edward Island — David Stewart, 
Esq., Great Russell Street, London — Robert Stewart, Esq., 
same — R. B. Stewart, Esq., same — John Hill, Esq., Exmouth, 
Devon — Edward Banks, Esq., Gateshead — T. H. Brooking, 
Esq., Broad Street, London — George Young, Esq., Halifax, 
Nova Scotia — Thomas Todd, Esq., London — J. C. Compton, 
Esq., Prince Edward Island — A. Thornton Todd, Esq. — 



11 APPENDIX. 

William Cundall, Esq. Prince Edward Island — David 
Rennie & Brothers, Edinburgh — J. Hodges Winslow. Esq., 
Trellick, near Monmouth — Messrs. Thompson, Belfast, Ire- 
land — Col. J. F. Holland, Prince Edward Island — Geo. 
Irving, Esq., same — Donald, McDonald, Esq., same — Rev. 
John McDonald, same — Roderick McDonald, Esq., 30th 
Regiment — H. W. Hemsworth, Esq., Shropham Hall — Rev. 
T. H. Langdon, Clarence Crescent, Windsor. 

The ships of the Honorable Samuel Cunard of Halifax, 
and the Honorable Joseph Cunard of Miramichi, proprietors 
of land, above mentioned, sail to, or land passengers at, 
Prince Edward Island. 

The following is a list of the agents of these gentlemen at 
some of the ports of the United Kingdom. 

London, Duncan Brothers, Token-house Yard. 

Liverpool, Anderson Garrow & Co. 

Glasgow, W. H. Dobie. 

Leith, John Dryden & Co. 

Annan, J. Richardson. 

Dundee, James Keiller, Junr. 

Hull, Holderness and Chelton. 

N. Monday. 

Newcastle, Stephen Lowry. 
Sunderland, William Briggs. 
Bristol, W. Cross & Son. 
Plymouth, Hawker & Co. 
Dublin, William Carson. 
Limerick, James Harvey & Co. 
Cove of Cork, James Scott & Co. 



APPENDIX. Ill 

Waterford, Danl. Carregan. 

Belfast, Thos. G. Folingsby. 

Wexford, Fraucis Harper. 

Cockermouth, W. & G. Cape. 

Dundalk, Pat. Jennings. 

Satlevats, J. & H. Richie. 

Carlisle, Thos. Walker, & Co. 

South Shields, Bell & Marshal. 

Whitehaven, Wm. Jackson. 

Irvene, John Wright & Co. 

Grangemouth, Danl. Robertson. 

Perth, James Mount. 

Tralee, John Donovan. 

Drogheda, Boylon. 

Menai Bridge, R. Davis & Co. 

Holyhead, William Owen. 

Lancaster, William Davis. 

Ayr, Cowan & Sloans. 

Chester, Thomas Dixon & Co. 

Falmouth, Wm. Broad and Co. 

Gloucester, Price, Washbourne & Price. 

Aberdeen, Geo. Thompson, Junr. 

Garstang, W. & M Lewtas. 

Cardiff, W. Watson & Co. 

Amlwch, Trewick Brothers. 

New Ross, John Gallovan & Co. 

Neath, Grainger & Evans. 

Greenock, Alan Ker & Co. 

Bridport, Kennway & Co. 

Newry, L. Ledlie & Co. 

Stockton-on-Tees, G. W. Todd. 



E. Vaety, Printer, 27, Camomile Street, Bi^hopsgate. 






SHORT ACCOUNT 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, 



DESIGNED CHIEFLY 



FOR THE INFORMATION OF AGRICULTURIST 

AND OTHER EMIGRANTS OF SMALL 

CAPITAL, 



THE AUTHOR OF THE EMIGRANT'S INTRODUCTION TO AN ACQUAINTANCE 
WITH THE BRITISH AMERICAN COLONIES, &C. 



h 

Hontutt : 

MADDEN & Co. (Late PARBURY & Co.) 8, LEADENHALL 
8TREET. 



1839. 



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